Why have Fort Monroe costs soared?
Members of Congress want to know why the estimate for closing the post has risen 298 percent. BY DAVID LERMAN 202-824-8224 Daily Press, Jan. 5, 2008 WASHINGTON Two local members of Congress are pressing the Pentagon to explain why the cost of closing Hampton’s Fort Monroe has increased 298 percent. Reps. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, D-Newport News, and Thelma Drake, R-Norfolk, have sent a letter to the Defense Department. They are demanding to know why costs have increased to an estimated $288 million and whether the initial estimate considered the expense of environmental cleanup. The historic post, headquarters for the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, is scheduled to close by 2011, part of a large streamlining approved by Congress that will shutter about 22 major bases nationwide. Cleaning up Monroe is expected to be costly because the moat-encircled fort is thought to be littered with unexploded munitions. The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, iss
