The United States will finally renounce its right to re-occupy Bermuda in an emergency at a ceremony in Washington, DC on Tuesday, Premier Jennifer Smith revealed yesterday.

The Premier and Governor Sir John Vereker will fly to the US capital for an "exchange of notes" ceremony to terminate the 1941 Leased Lands Agreement, a treaty allowing US troops to reoccupy former military baselands and the whole of Bermuda which runs right up until 2040.

"Tuesday's ceremony will bring to an official end a unique and most important era in Bermuda's development," Ms Smith told MPs in the House of Assembly yesterday.

The deal means Bermuda will regain sovereignty over the land 37 years ahead of schedule, and it brings to an end years of wrangling with Washington over who will pay for the pollution left by US forces. The former Naval Annex at Southampton was left with raw sewage and thousands of gallons of oil leaked out in underground caves after the US pulled out in 1995.

And the former US Naval Air Station in St. David's still has asbestos and other pollutants.

The US will pay nothing towards the clean-up of the sites, but it will give Bermuda $11 million as a final pay-out to meet all its current and future obligations for the upkeep of Longbird Bridge.

The United Bermuda Party has criticised Government for agreeing to the deal, saying Bermuda should have pushed Washington much harder to get them to foot the bill.

But the Progressive Labour Party argued the Americans have not paid out to clean up their other former bases in other countries, and that this is the best deal the Island could get.

Washington has promised to look at the possibility of providing a Coast Guard vessel for Bermuda and of providing training facilities in the US for the Bermuda Regiment.

The British Embassy in Washington is pursuing these benefits on behalf of Bermuda.

New legislation will also be passed to allow North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) troops onto Bermudian soil by agreement if necessary in the future. In a press statement released yesterday, the Premier said: "Bermuda will receive $11 million in lieu of the US obligation to Longbird Bridge.

"This is an important point, because traditionally, the US does not provide compensation for environmental degradation due to military occupation."

She said the deal was "significantly more generous than the settlement made with Canada" following a US pullout there.

She said a Canadian Defence Department spokesman had said there was no cash involved in the 1996 deal to clean up 51 decommissioned US sites across Canada.

"Bermuda will regain control of its land, water and airspace. The US's right, under the 1941 accord to unilaterally declare an emergency (allowed it) to occupy the whole of Bermuda's territory - land, water and airspace - not just the leased land.

"The new treaty brings to a conclusion the long-standing cause for uncertainty that existed in Bermuda since the US left seven years ago.

"Future cooperation with NATO and the US, and the restoration of Bermudian sovereignty, is an important event in the history of our Island."

Secretary to the Cabinet John Drinkwater and the Premier's Chief of Staff Sen. David Burch will also make the trip to Washington.