"Pentagon Weighs Cleanups as It Plans Iraq Exit"

"As the U.S. military prepares to leave Iraq, the Pentagon is wrestling with questions about environmental cleanup on the bases it plans to transfer to the Iraqi Army by December 2011.

At issue on and around the bases are unexploded ordinance, depleted uranium from munitions, spilled oil and contaminated ash in burn pits.

There is no set answer about what -- if anything -- the military must do to mitigate environmental damage. Though there are clear environmental policies for permanent U.S. bases overseas, they do not apply to contingency operations like those in Iraq."

Dina Fine Maron reports for Greenwire January 13, 2010.