{
  "id": "RL32533",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL32533",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 306005,
      "date": "2005-07-07",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:39:14.465029",
      "title": "Vieques and Culebra Islands: An Analysis of Cleanup Status and Costs",
      "summary": "For decades, the U.S. Navy conducted ship-to-shore bombing exercises and other live-fire\ntraining\nactivities on Vieques Island and Culebra Island, located off the coast of Puerto Rico. In response\nto concerns about risks to public safety, human health, and the environment, Congress directed the\nNavy to close its training facilities on Vieques Island in 2003 and to relocate them elsewhere. The\nNavy has begun to investigate the presence of munitions and related contamination on Vieques to\ndetermine the cleanup actions that will be necessary to protect human health and the environment,\nand has begun the surface removal of munitions in some areas. In 1974, Congress had enacted\nlegislation that required the Navy to cease its training operations on Culebra Island, in response to\nsimilar public concerns. The Army Corps of Engineers has removed some munitions on Culebra to\naddress safety hazards in publicly accessible areas, but has not begun a comprehensive cleanup of\nthe island. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality\nBoard are responsible for overseeing these actions.\n \n There has been rising public interest in the degree to which the Department of Defense (DOD)\nwill be required to clean up both islands. The scope of the cleanup will depend on the type and extent\nof contamination found, and whether a pathway of human exposure exists. The National Defense\nAuthorization Act for FY2002 ( P.L. 107-107 ) prohibits public access within the Live Impact Area\nof the former bombing range on Vieques. Public access also may be limited in other areas due to\nthe presence of munitions hazards. Since denying public access is intended to reduce safety threats,\nDOD may be allowed to remove fewer munitions than would be required otherwise. However, if\ncontamination has leached from munitions and migrated to present a pathway of exposure, removal\nof more munitions may be required to protect human health. Possible pathways include the\nconsumption of contaminated groundwater and contaminated fish or shellfish.\n \n At the request of the Governor of Puerto Rico, Sila M. Calderon, EPA listed Vieques on the\nNational Priorities List (NPL) of the nation\u2019s most hazardous waste sites on February 11,\n2005. \nListing a site on the NPL does not affect the stringency of the cleanup that is required or increase the\navailability of funding for the Navy to perform the cleanup. Rather, it identifies Vieques as a site\nthat warrants further investigation to determine actions that are necessary to protect human health\nand the environment. The Governor also requested that EPA list Culebra on the NPL along with\nVieques. However, EPA \u201celected to take no action\u201d on its final listing decision for\nCulebra at that\ntime, and reports that the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Army are negotiating a\nMemorandum of Agreement to govern the cleanup. Regardless of the site listing decision, the degree\nof cleanup on either island will depend on threats to human health and the environment and the types\nof remediation that will be deemed necessary to address these threats. Whatever actions are required,\nthe progress of cleanup will depend on the availability of federal funding to pay for the remediation. \nThis report will be updated annually to track the status of cleanup on both islands.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Environmental Policy",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}