Conn. Sub Base a 'Minefield' of Pollution

[maddezmom]

By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer
4 minutes ago


GROTON, Conn. - For decades, the land around the Navy's oldest submarine base was a dumping ground for whatever it needed to dispose of: sulfuric acid, torpedo fuel, waste oil and incinerator ash. Now the Pentagon has proposed closing the base, leaving a huge swath of land that contains dozens of acres of polluted soil and groundwater, an Associated Press review of more than 1,000 pages of government documents found.


The Submarine Base New London is among at least seven military bases proposed for closure this year that are polluted, and the Pentagon has estimated it will cost more than $700 million to clean them.

Even some areas that already have been cleaned could pose health risks to construction workers and future residents if the Groton base were to close, the military, state and federal environmental documents show.

Although elected officials have promised to fight the base closure, which they estimate could cost Connecticut 31,500 jobs and $2 billion a year in personal income, Groton officials have already starting thinking about what might replace it.

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more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050529/ap_on_re_us/base_closings_groton;_ylt=Aodqik0GbHTPTmaChgT7UUFG2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[sniffa]

1. 700M is a LowbaLL estimate

add a few more zeroes at Least.

[Ezlivin]

2. Bored sailors = pollution

I went through Groton on my way to Pearl Harbor. When I got to my boat (in the shipyard), the crew was aboard a floating barge.

They threw everything and anything overboard: chairs, desks, O2 cannisters (watch 'em explode!), trash, you name it. It was pretty sickening to watch.

But it was all around. It was as if no one wondered why the black, oily water we sat in was once called "Pearl Harbor."

Every base I've ever been on was chalk-filled with toxic waste, overseen by bored young men with nothing to do but "watch over it." A recipe for disaster.

[HockeyMom]

3. I've taken the Ferry

from both Orient Point to New London and from Port Jeff to Bridgeport. The water around both those places is gross and disgusting. Gobs of yellow/green pools of who knows what floating on top of the water, besides all the other junk in it.

I grew up in Manhattan and my Dad was a longshoreman. I always thought the Hudson around the City was bad. Nothing compared to New London and Bridgeport.

I know Schumer was trying to get money for more clean up of the Sound. I guess he can kiss that goodbye. They don't give a damn about our natural resources. Only what is most profitable for business.

[Submariner]

4. Home ported out of Groton for 3 yrs

in the late '60s I must say I was in part responsible for some of the pollution in the Thames. I used to used the PCB transformer oil to help break the grease out from under my fingernails. The WWII era diesel-electric boats used to dump motors, valves, gaskets (asbestos type), oils, solvents, and any other object you can think of over the side.

And between about 0400 and 0530 each morning, all the boats on the river would blow there sanitary tanks over the side (3 per boat). We bubbleheads called it "blowing shitters". At the start of a new day it was always fun to see who could come close to killing the new NQP (non-qualified puke) topside watch in a noxious gas cloud that enveloped the lower base and could take the chrome off a car.

The irony is that now I do BRAC work (marine biology) to clean up and remediate these sites.

[pfitz59]

5. Base closing is about sticking states with the bill!

Feds say "So sad, too bad!" and abandon the toxic waste sites. Rhenquist and company have already said DOD is not responsible (National Security, and all that!) Try to FOIA full info and get told "Top Secret"! Environmental time bombs is what we've got! (How long to to filter into the water table?...a generation? two?) the war profiteers buy homes in Florida and the South of France and leave the mess behind!