The Air Force announced July 31.that it has brought on CH2M Hill of Denver through 2015 to oversee the environmental cleanup activities on the former Castle Air Force Base near Atwater, Calif., and the former Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, Calif. Castle closed in 1995, while Norton was shuttered in 1994. The service said the $8.18 million multiyear, performance-based contract will result in approximately $10.8 million in savings over that period compared to competing and letting annual contracts. “This is another example of how we are making every effort to leverage the best of what private industry has to offer to get the cleanup done as quickly as possible, and in the most-cost effective manner,” said Phil Mook of the Air Force Real Property Agency. Although CH2M Hill will perform the cleanup, the Air Force remains responsible for all cleanup decisions and must approve, along with federal and state regulatory agencies, all technologies and remedies that the company applies.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.