Bombs in Your Backyard
by Lena Groeger, Ryann Grochowski Jones & Abrahm Lustgarten, November 30, 2017
The military spends more than a billion dollars a year to clean up sites its operations have contaminated with toxic waste and explosives. These sites exist in every state in the country. Some are located near schools, residential neighborhoods, rivers and lakes. A full map of these sites has never been made public – until now. Enter your address to see the hazardous sites near you, or select a state. Related story »
Use My Location
40.7K
Hazardous
Sites
$41.1B
Cleanup Cost
So Far
$28B
Expected
Cleanup Cost
How States Compare
Riskiest
Most Expensive
The number of military installations with ongoing “high” and “medium risk” hazardous sites, by state
Calif. 131
Fla. 66
Alaska 65
Texas 62
Hawaii 43
N.Y. 32
Ariz. 29
N.M. 25
Va. 25
Kan. 24
Md. 22
Maine 20
Mass. 20
S.C. 18
Ga. 17
Mich. 16
N.J. 16
N.C. 15
Wash. 14
P.R. 14
Ala. 13
Colo. 13
Guam 12
Ohio 12
Miss. 11
Ore. 11
Wyo. 10
R.I. 10
Neb. 10
Ill. 9
Pa. 9
Idaho 8
Tenn. 8
M.P. 7
La. 7
Mo. 7
Mont. 6
Utah 6
Ind. 5
Okla. 5
Nev. 5
S.D. 5
W.Va. 4
Ark. 4
D.C. 4
Conn. 4
Wis. 4
Del. 3
Minn. 3
Vt. 3
Iowa 2
N.H. 2
Ky. 2
N.D. 1
V.I. 1
W.Q. 1
A.S. 0
M.Q. 0
M.H. 0
The total cost – past and future – of cleaning up hazardous sites, by state
Calif. $14B
Alaska $6.2B
Colo. $3.4B
Hawaii $2.8B
Texas $2.7B
Fla. $2.6B
Ala. $2.3B
Ariz. $2.3B
Va. $2.1B
Md. $2B
Mass. $1.8B
Utah $1.6B
N.Y. $1.5B
N.M. $1.4B
Wash. $1.4B
Neb. $1.3B
Ill. $1.2B
N.J. $1.2B
Ga. $1.1B
P.R. $1B
S.C. $880M
Ohio $870M
N.C. $860M
Tenn. $820M
Mo. $790M
Pa. $780M
Kan. $760M
Okla. $680M
Guam $660M
Maine $600M
Ark. $570M
Wyo. $570M
Mich. $560M
R.I. $460M
Nev. $460M
La. $450M
W.Va. $370M
D.C. $370M
Wis. $360M
Miss. $360M
Ind. $350M
Minn. $340M
Ore. $330M
S.D. $280M
N.H. $270M
Del. $250M
Ky. $220M
Iowa $190M
Conn. $180M
Mont. $180M
M.P. $120M
Idaho $92M
N.D. $72M
Vt. $49M
M.Q. $23M
A.S. $15M
V.I. $9.7M
W.Q. $0
M.H. $0
Military Installations by Risk & Cost
Riskiest
Most Expensive
The top 20 installations ranked by the number of “high” and “medium risk” hazardous sites
The top 20 installations ranked by the cost of cleaning them up.
Rocky mountain arsenal, Colo. $2.1B
Redstone arsenal, Ala. $1.3B
Hunters point..., Calif. $1.1B
Laguna maneuver area, Ariz. $1B
Waikoloa maneuver area, Hawaii $1B
Edwards air force base, Calif. $940M
Hill air force base, Utah $940M
Mcclellan air force base, Calif. $920M
Joint base cape cod, Mass. $880M
Fort ord, Calif. $860M
Aberdeen proving ground, Md. $770M
Alameda naval air station, Calif. $600M
Vandenberg, Calif. $530M
Beale air force base, Calif. $530M
Vieques east, P.R. $510M
Adak nas, Alaska $450M
Fort glenn, Alaska $440M
Fort mcclellan, Ala. $440M
Update (Dec. 5, 2017): We have changed the source of the installation cost data after being notified by the Department of Defense that they erroneously reported their own cost figures on the DERP website. We are now displaying the costs the department says are the most accurate available, from the Pentagon’s DERP database that we received in a FOIA request.
Note: The risk level of a site refers to a relative risk assessment made by the DOD to prioritize the cleanup of sites.
Data: All data comes from the Defense Environmental Restoration Program and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and will be released soon at the ProPublica Data Store. Read our methodology »
Additional design and development by Al Shaw and Mike Tigas
Note: The risk level of a site refers to a relative risk assessment made by the DOD. More on our data & methodology »
High Risk
Medium Risk
Low Risk
Risk Not Evaluated or Not Required
Response Complete