66 Hazardous DOD Sites In Florida Revealed: ProPublica

Florida has 215 properties or installations currently or formerly owned by the Department of Defense that have at least one hazardous site and 66 of these installations have at least one high or medium risk hazardous site, according to data released from the DOD that was acquired and published by ProPublica.

According to ProPublica, which has been documenting toxic pollution left behind by the military across the country, there are more than 40,000 such hazardous sites polluted by U.S. military operations.

Through its reporting, ProPublica found that many of these sites have extensive groundwater and soil pollution or present a risk of exploding bombs and munitions. Some of these sites are part of old facilities that may not be known locally even though a risk of exposure to contaminants may still be present. ProPublica also notes that contamination could affect an area much larger than the site itself.

According to ProPublica, past and estimated future costs of hazardous sites cleanup in Florida is $2.58 billion.

The Florida installations in Tampa Bay with at least one high or medium risk site include:

MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa with 76 sites of medium risk;

Drew Field in Tampa with 4 sites of medium risk;

Bartow Army Airfield in Bartow with 3 sites of medium risk;

Pinellas Practice Bomb Range in Clearwater with 1 site of medium risk;

Lakeland AAF in Medulla with 4 sites of high risk.

The installations in the Miami-Dade area with at least one high or medium risk site include:

Richmond NAS in Richmond Heights with 6 sites of medium risk;

Opa-Locka Airport in Opa-Locka with 4 sites of high risk;

Dade Bombing Range in Pennsuca with 1 site of medium risk.

To see all sites, click here.

ProPublica explains in its methodology that it classified entire installations as high risk even if it contained one high risk site. A site is either assigned a relative risk of high, medium or low or a priority level of 1 through 8. ProPublica simplified that into one risk level and confirmed their assessment with the DOD.

Some sites are marked as “response complete,” meaning the DOD cleanup actions are complete but that doesn’t mean there is no longer a hazard. According to ProPublica, this may mean sites are simply fenced off to the public or the DOD determined no cleanup was required by law.

Image via AP Photo/Chris O'Meara