Congress chided for neglecting ordnance cleanup.

Congress is neglecting its responsibilities to oversee the removal of dangerous unexploded ordnance from military bases around the United States, charges Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.

He estimated that the cleanup effort would cost up to $35 billion, but Congress funds about $106 million annually. At this rate, it could take up to 330 years for the Defense Department to clean up the sites. "It's amazingly expensive, it has low visibility, and it sadly still has a low priority from Congress," he says. Blumenauer is pressuring the 109th Congress to pay more attention to the issue and ensure that the Pentagon allocates proper resources. "There should be one person in charge of doing this on a full time basis for the U.S. government."