The GAO also said the military does not have firm data on the extent of likely contamination at the ranges.

"DOD (the Department of Defense) does not have a comprehensive policy requiring sampling or cleanup of the more than 200 chemical contaminants associated with military munitions on operational ranges," it said.

It said the different arms of the military also used different techniques to estimate how much of their ranges are heavily contaminated. For example, the Air Force assumed in its calculations that ranges were either 100 percent heavily contaminated, or zero percent. Other services came up with varying percentages per range, or type of range.

GAO said the different arms of the military also used different assumptions and methods to estimate how much it would cost to clean up heavily contaminated areas.

"The Air Force's average cost to clean up an acre with a high density of contamination was $755, whereas the Army's estimate was $7,577," GAO said. "As a result, the services cost estimates are not comparable."

GAO recommended that the military use more consistent methodology for inventories and estimates.

The Defense Department disagreed with many of the findings. It wrote that it disagreed that data and cost estimates were questionable, and said it is not necessary to revise them because they are "accurate within reason."

It also disagreed with the finding that it does not have a comprehensive policy requiring sampling or cleanup of munitions on operational ranges, and said it is developing a system to better assess migration of contaminants off ranges.

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E-mail: lee@desnews.com