Bermuda has been left wondering what's going to happen with toxic waste on the former US naval baselands now that Government has accepted that the Americans will not be paying for the clean-up.

And that, says MP Trevor Moniz, is a national issue that must be dealt with.

"We're still waiting for the other shoe to drop," he said. "Are we going to clean up those bases or are we going to leave them in the state they're in? Who is going to do the clean up and how much is it going to cost?"

On Friday, parliamentarians passed, a 14-11 vote, United States Bases (Termination of Agreement) Act which, besides formally terminating the lease, will see a one-off payment of $11 million to Bermuda for replacing Longbird Bridge.

But since the United States announced its plans to pull out in the mid 1990s, successive Bermuda Governments have tried with little success to get them to pay for a clean-up.

Under the terms of the lease, the United States was responsible for maintaining the bridge.

The US will also provide some training assistance to the Bermuda Regiment and will be looking into whether it can assist with building up the Island's maritime capability.

Government members stressed during the five hour debate that negotiations with the Americans will continue after the passage of the bill.

But beginning with Premier Jennifer Smith's statement that the Americans had "categorically refused to pay any financial compensation for environmental damage" it was made clear that the waste - which includes heavy metals, asbestos, and 500,000 gallons of jet fuel in Bassett's Cave - would have to be cleaned up by someone else, if it is cleaned up at all.

Mr. Moniz said Government must now come clean on the extent of the waste by releasing the latest environmental study.

"I'm now informed that there's a level of radioactivity on Southside," he said. "They've done an environmental review and nobody's releasing it. And it's pretty scary stuff. The British came and did theirs a couple of years back and their technical experts would have examined the other sites to see what is there."

He added :"It's for Government to tell us what is on the sites and how we are going to get rid of it. I want to know if it's going to be cleaned up. Government hasn't said. They have said the US isn't going to pay for it."

Much of the House debate was unnecessarily partisan he said. "This concerns the whole country. I think it's a major issue."

I want to know the details what's involved and what its going to cost."

In the mid 1990s, the United Bermuda Party (UBP) Government had estimated the clean up bill to be $55 million. Current UBP estimates put the cost at $65 million. But Premier Jennifer Smith told the House that she had no idea why the Opposition was quoting the clean-up cost as being $65 million.

"I challenge the Opposition to come up with evidence to support the figures they have been bandying about," she said. "No one knows how much it's going to cost to clean it up."

Some muted criticism rounded on the United States during the debate but most Parliamentarians accepted that Bermuda did not have the wherewithal to influence that country, even with Britain's help.

Mr. Moniz said yesterday : "They've left an unholy mess in terms of the environment and they've not been good citizens. And here they are trying to pass a law penalising American companies that want to avail themselves of economic opportunities in Bermuda."

And referring to the US television magazine 60 Minutes' depiction of the bases some years ago, he said : "What country club is filled with environmental contaminants and toxins, heavy metals, asbestos, radioactivity and PCB ? If we're going to be stuck with that we better damn well know what it's going to cost. Or are we just proposing to leave it there like a time bomb ticking away?"

"My comments right now wouldn't be justifiable at this point because I wasn't involved in the negotiations," said Environment Minister Dennis Lister. "My technical staff and officers are there to assist as we have so far."