Hazardous Waste

DOD's Efforts To Improve Management of Generation, Storage, and Disposal Gao ID: NSIAD-86-60 May 19, 1986

GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) progress in managing hazardous waste generation, storage, and disposal at its U.S. installations, specifically: (1) the extent to which the facilities are meeting hazardous waste requirements under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976; (2) the Defense Logistics Agency's effectiveness in disposing of waste and constructing storage facilities; and (3) DOD progress in reducing the volume of hazardous waste that requires disposal.

GAO noted that DOD: (1) gave its services, commands, and installation commanders the authority to achieve compliance under the act; (2) requires audits of installations' compliance; and (3) will measure the services' success in implementing DOD policies and programs. GAO found that: (1) over half the facilities and 90 percent of the generators inspected were not in compliance with the act; (2) some installations stored hazardous waste for too long because contractors did not pick up the waste in a timely fashion or defaulted on their contracts, or DOD failed to issue delivery orders; (3) construction of storage facilities is behind schedule; and (4) DOD is not operating waste treatment plants at full capacity.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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