THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, March 25, 1995               TAG: 9503250357
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                         LENGTH: Short :   38 lines

CLEANUP COSTS FOR BASES SOAR, CBO REPORT SAYS

The cost of cleaning up military bases is skyrocketing, according to a congressional report released Friday.

The report by the Congressional Budget Office, which comes just as Republican lawmakers take aim at the Pentagon's environmental budget, estimates it will cost $30 billion to restore contaminated sites on military bases. That's in addition to $11 billion that has already been spent.

For next year alone, the Clinton administration is asking for $5 billion for cleanup and a variety of other environmental compliance programs for the Pentagon.

``Many of us share a growing concern that we do not have much to show for the many billions already spent on these programs,'' said Rep. Herbert Bateman, R-1st, chairman of the House National Security readiness subcommittee.

Bateman said the Pentagon must continue to obey environmental laws, but many Republicans have been urging sharp cuts in Pentagon spending on the environment, arguing it has nothing to do with national defense.

Countering that argument was Sherri Goodman, deputy undersecretary of defense for environmental security. She called the Defense Department the nation's largest industrial organization and said it was ``just good business'' to operate military facilities under environmental law.

``Our forces are defending a beautiful nation and they want to keep it that way,'' Goodman told the lawmakers.

KEYWORDS: HAZARDOUS WASTE POLLUTION MILITARY BASE by CNB