Opposition leader Dr. Grant Gibbons described yesterday's baselands deal as "a bit of a sell out" after lambasting Government for leaving the taxpayer to foot the bill for around $65 million worth of environmental clean-ups.

He said: "Clearly the Premier has tried to put the best spin on a bad deal. The challenge we face on the baselands is environmental re-mediation.

"At this point it looks like the only clear benefit is the $11 million for the US obligation to maintain the bridge."

He said the deal was mostly form and not substance as the US had formally abandoned the bases in 1995 and had renounced any rights to re-occupation.

He said the only thing that remained was the NASA site and some Airforce antennae.

Dr. Gibbons said the Baselands Development Act, which set up the Bermuda Land Development Corporation, indemnified the BLDC and future tenants from claims against ownership to make prospective developers feel comfortable in leasing the land.

"The biggest issue was always to negotiate in the hope the US would do the right thing as in Canada and work with the Bermuda Government to clean up asbestos and underground petrol," Dr. Gibbons said.

He said there was nearly 500,000 gallons of jet fuel at Morgan's Point which had leaked from fuel tanks and there were heavy metals polluting Bassett's Cave.

The $65 million clean-up bill, as worked out by US Navy contractors JA Jones in 1997/98, would have gone up over the years said Dr. Gibbons.

He said: "We call it a bit of a sell out. Government can't hide its essentially a terrible treaty."

He said it would sign over to the Bermuda community the full costs of the clean-up.

By allowing the British to do the final negotiations Bermuda had lost vital links with US congressmen and senators said Dr. Gibbons.

"As a consequence the communications between Washington and Bermuda is considerably weakened.

"We lost an enormous opportunity to continue with very positive communications which might be very helpful in the current climate."