The Minister of the Environment, Senator Gerald Simons, has said he is satisfied that the process is in place to deal with any problems that might arise. But we have to question whether the Ministry of the Environment is taking a tough enough stand.

Bermuda has to be careful not to assume that the United States military will automatically put everything right. The Senator says that the US Navy appointed an environmental officer 18 months ago and we are sure that the intention is good but we doubt that one officer can make much impact on the military in a rush to leave Kindley Field.

Bermuda must remember that what US clean-up the base is going to get, it will only get before the US Navy leaves the East End land. Once the land is handed back, problems will become Bermuda's problems at Bermuda's cost. We think that over the next year Bermuda has to be very careful to get the maximum clean-up done or else it will find itself with land which becomes a very costly project. While there may be nothing in a hurried wartime bases agreement to specify an environmental clean-up, the United States has a moral duty to give the land back in good condition.

The Minister seems to be concerned about the niceties of the situation and the sensitivity of good relations between Bermuda and the United States. We agree with that concern and we would not like to see the return of the bases cause bad friends. But the fact is that the duty to behave well rests on the US and not on Bermuda.

This is really a business proposition which could be very expensive for Bermuda and Bermuda must get the very best deal it can get for itself. Toward getting the best deal, there should be expert inspections of the base lands and there should be high environmental standards applied. This land has been used for US military purposes, free, for over 50 years and it is not reasonable to expect Bermuda to pay for a mess created by the US military.

Remember, environmental considerations are relatively recent and the military of the Second World War simply did as it pleased.

Senator Simons has said that there has been a "lot of co-operation'' between the US and Bermuda. That is fine as far as it goes. The Senator appears to be relying on the good graces of the US Navy to leave the base in good condition.

But surely that is not wise for Bermuda. We must be certain for ourselves. The Minister is concerned that if these matters are not handled well, there could be misunderstandings. With all due respect to US-Bermuda friendship, Bermuda has a duty to itself to be sure that the land being returned is in good shape.

There has been over 50 years of waste disposal at Kindley Field and the military has seldom been known for being careful with the environment even at home. Bermuda also knows that there is a probability that there were nuclear weapons on the base. There are trash dumps and oil dumps. There are also a fair number of buildings which are not in good condition and may be costly to demolish. The list of possible costly horrors is much longer. We see no reason why tiny Bermuda should get stuck to sort out its rich neighbour's mess after that neighbour has used our lands for over 50 years.

There are indications that the United States has not been careful about the condition of a base in Newfoundland. There is also a US report saying that it would cost more than $33 million to remove hazardous materials from the US bases in Bermuda. Bermuda is already faced with huge costs involved in taking over the base and should not face environmental costs as well. This newspaper hopes that the committees appointed by Premier Sir John Swan will reassure the people that they intend to be very watchful and very careful.