Similarly, inspectors complained that the Army was not ensuring that contractors responded well and quickly to state notices of environmental violations, nor ensure for itself that problems were corrected — which could also lead to delays and overruns.

It said that happened even though regulators in Utah, Oregon and Alabama had sent notices of such problems as "processing hazardous materials with disabled instrumentation," "failing to notify the state of system modifications," and "storing hazardous waste for more than 90 days without a permit."

Auditors said delays and overruns will continue unless oversight improves and contracts are revised to do away with inadvertent incentives for delay. They called for possibly paying a flat fee per munition destroyed.

They noted that similar calls for better oversight had been made for years by a variety of inspecting agencies, but delays and cost overruns have continued.

In its official written response to the audit, the Army said that its Chemical Materials Agency has taken steps that "meet the intent" of auditor recommendations, and it considers issues raised in the report to be resolved.

The Army also said said the CMA said is pursuing "shared-savings contracting mechanisms to better reward contractors for exceptional cost and schedule performance."

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