Since the mid-1990s, however, DOD has shifted its focus to cleaning up contamination and generally has limited its efforts to search for potentially contaminated locations. On active installations, contamination was discovered as a result of construction or other operational activities. Concerns about Identifying and Addressing Contamination Highlight Need for Better Procedures and Communication

Stakeholders raised no major concerns about DOD’s cleanup efforts on active military installations, but raised three major concerns about the Corps’ efforts to identify and address contamination on formerly used defense sites in Guam. The second concern is that DOD excludes from the restoration program debris that does not pose a threat to human health or the environment, even though it was caused by DOD and could place a financial burden on owners who incur costs to remove it. The third concern is the slow pace of funding environmental cleanup on formerly used defense sites included in the restoration program. During fiscal years 1984-2000, 4 percent of the total expected cost of locations the Corps approved for cleanup had been funded in Guam while, nationally,  16 percent had been funded, even though contaminated locations in Guam posed risks to human health and the environment that were similar to risks posed by such locations nationally. These uncertainties have been exacerbated by poor communication between the Corps and its stakeholders. For example, a Guam landowner discovered World War II-era chemical testing kits with diluted mustard gas and other chemicals on his property in July 1999.
What GAO Found

Chemical testing kits from World War II containing diluted mustard gas and other chemicals have been discovered on Guam. The Department of Defense (DOD) is responsible for identifying and cleaning up contaminated military sites throughout the United States and its territories. In the mid-1990s, DOD scaled back its identification efforts nationally and focused its attention on Guam. It now relies on referrals from the Guam Environmental Protection Agency and on incidental discovery during construction and other operational activities. Stakeholders had three concerns about the Army Corps of Engineers' efforts to identify and address contamination on former defense sites. First, they were uncertain about the Corps' process for adding potentially contaminated locations to its Guam inventory. Second, some locations containing debris, such as metal and tires, were excluded even though the waste was caused by DOD and could place a financial burden on the owner to remove it. Third, stakeholders were concerned about the slow pace of funding for the program. Between fiscal years 1984 and 2000, only four percent of the total expected cost of cleaning up these locations had been funded in Guam, compared with 16 percent nationwide.