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County firing Camp Bonneville cleanup contractor

Officials vow that the work will continue

By Erik Robinson
Published: May 22, 2010, 12:00am
2 Photos
The U.S. Army used Camp Bonneville, northeast of Vancouver, as an artillery range and training ground from 1909 through 1995.
The U.S. Army used Camp Bonneville, northeast of Vancouver, as an artillery range and training ground from 1909 through 1995. Clark County is terminating the contractor hired to turn the site into a county park. Photo Gallery

Clark County is in the process of terminating the contractor hired four years ago to turn an old Army artillery range into a county park.

Contractor Mike Gage, who serves as president of the nonprofit organization formed to oversee cleanup of Camp Bonneville, has engaged in a long-running dispute with the Army over escalating costs at the 3,840-acre site.

Late last year, the main subcontractor removing unexploded ordnance pulled out after Army funding dried up.

“Ecology and Clark County are grateful to Mike Gage for the work that has been accomplished at Camp Bonneville during the past four years, but now is time for new leadership and a fresh perspective,” said a written statement issued by the state Department of Ecology on Friday. “Cleanup work has basically stopped due to funding issues.”

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Gage could not be reached for comment late Friday.

Pete Capell, the county’s public works director, said the nonprofit organization headed by Gage remains in control of the site until the contract can be formally terminated. He said the county won’t be left on the hook for cleaning up Camp Bonneville, which the Army used as a training ground and artillery range from 1909 through 1995.

“The Army created the mess,” Capell said. “The Army is responsible to clean it up, and we and Ecology will continue to hold their feet to the fire.”

In 2006, the Army handed the property over to the county with a commitment to provide $28.6 million to clean it up. Army officials have resisted additional funding, arguing that the county signed a fixed-price contract with inherent risks. However, both Gage and the county contend that the Army’s estimate of old munitions and environmental hazards at the site turned out to be “grossly inadequate” once contractors began unearthing hundreds of potentially explosive items.

For their part, Army officials have raised concern about the contractors’ spending habits, which have included expensive meals, bar tabs and gift boxes.

Gage, a former deputy mayor of Los Angeles who serves as president of Bonneville Conservation Restoration and Renewal Team, characterized the Army’s criticism as diverting attention from its failure to accurately portray the extent of pollution on the site.

A new contractor should be able to move past the friction between the Army and Gage, Capell said.

“I think it would be helpful in being able to work with the Army to be able to get the monies to do everything else that needs to be done,” Capell said. “I’m not too sure how willing they would be with our current contractor.”

Friday’s statement from the Department of Ecology indicated that the agency may press the Army for a more straightforward contract based on time and materials — rather than continued squabbling over the terms of a fixed-price contract.

A fixed-price contract, by nature, includes the possibility of both risk and reward. If a contractor can complete the job cost-effectively, it can earn a profit. If not, it runs the risk of paying the difference out of its own pocket.

“Many details need to be worked out, but the Camp Bonneville cleanup will continue, possibly with a different contractor who would be compensated for the amount of time spent on the job or for the amount of munitions removed,” according to the statement from Ecology.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues to assess a petition by Vancouver environmental activist Dvija Michael Bertish to declare Camp Bonneville a federal Superfund site. Bertish said Friday that the EPA is better-equipped than state environmental regulators to force the Army into a complete cleanup.

Erik Robinson: 360-735-4551, or erik.robinson@columbian.com.

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