GAO Archives - George Air Force Base, CA

2018-09-26 GAO – Status of DOD Efforts to Address Drinking Water Contaminants Used in Firefighting Foam

November 29, 2018

The GAO report “Status of DOD Efforts to Address Drinking Water Contaminants Used in Firefighting Foam” fails to address the known PFOA and PFOS contamination of the soil and groundwater at the DoD Superfund site George Air Force Base, CA “EPA Superfund ID: CA2570024453.” Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs or what is now called PFOA and PFOS) were detected as high as 5,396 parts per [Read More…]

2007-07-12 GAO – Department of Defense Activities Related to Trichloroethylene, Perchlorate, and Other Emerging Contaminants

July 16, 2017

Two emerging contaminants–trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchlorate–are of particular concern to DOD because they have significant potential to impact people or DOD’s mission. TCE, a degreasing agent in metal cleaning which has been used widely in DOD industrial and maintenance processes, has been documented at low exposure levels to cause headaches and difficulty concentrating. High-level exposure may cause dizziness, headaches, nausea, unconsciousness, cancer, and possibly death. [Read More…]

2012-05-02 GAO – DOD Can Improve Its Response to Environmental Exposures on Military Installations

July 15, 2017

DOD has no policy guiding services and their installations on appropriate actions to address health risks from past exposures, which DOD attributes to the Superfund law not specifically requiring responsible parties to address such risks. [Read More…]

1985-04-12 GAO – Efforts To Clean Up DOD-Owned Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites

July 15, 2017

The Air Force has not cited, released, or acknowledged any environmental assessments or remediations performed under the DOD’s Installation Restoration Program. The DOD IRP predates the Air Force IRP by six years. The first report listed in the George AFB Administrative Record is dated 01/01/1982. [Read More…]

1990-05-23 GAO – The Military Would Benefit From a Comprehensive Waste Disposal Program

June 27, 2017

Senator John Glen requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) examine the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s oversight of the Department of Defense’s use, handling, and disposal of radioactive material. The GAO found that no comprehensive DOD waste disposal program exists, and none of the three services knows the full extent of its low-level radioactive waste disposal problems. As a result, DOD leaves itself open [Read More…]

Better Data Needed for Radioactively Contaminated Defense Sites - GAO

1994-08-24 GAO – Better Data Needed For Radioactively Contaminated Defense Sites

June 24, 2017

On December 22, 1992, Senator John Glenn requested that the General Accounting Office (GAO) investigate whether the Department of Defense (DOD) has accounted for all of its radiologically contaminated sites. The GOA found that the DOD could NOT identify the location, isotopes, or amount of radioactive material disposed of at its bases. 1994-08-24 GAO – Better Data Needed For Radioactively Contaminated Defense Sites (PDF, [Read More…]