Defense Infrastructure: DOD Can Improve Its Response to Environmental Exposures on Military Installations

There have been various reported incidents of individuals being potentially exposed to environmental hazards while on military installations. Indeed, some incidents, such as contaminated air due to burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq and contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, have received considerable attention, and in the case of Camp Lejeune have resulted in claims seeking billions of dollars from the government. Public Law 111-383, Section 3142011 directed GAO to assess Department of Defense DoD policies regarding environmental exposures. GAOs objectives were to determine the following 1 the extent to which DoD has policies that identify and respond to environmental exposures, 2 what programs exist to provide health care or compensation to individuals for environmental exposures, and 3 which features of other federal programs may provide options in designing future compensation programs. GAO briefed the Armed Services Committees in December 2011, to satisfy the mandate. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed relevant documentation, visited installations, and interviewed relevant officials. GAO is making recommendations to DoD to identify and respond to limitations in its policies for responding to environmental exposures. DoD generally disagreed with GAOs recommendations, commenting that current policies are adequate. GAO believes the recommendations remain valid, as discussed in the report.