Leader of the Opposition Dr. Grant Gibbons said some serious issues at Morgan's Point needed to be dealt with before any housing or other development takes place at the former US Naval Base.

Speaking in the House on Friday, Dr. Gibbons was responding to a brief remark made that recent tests showed that ground water was not at risk at the site.

It is also estimated that there are some 520,000 gallons of viscous oil and sludge which have seeped into Bassett's cave.

There is also a 55,000 gallon plume of J5 Jet Fuel discovered beneath the 250-acre site.

Dr. Gibbons said this was not a matter to be taken lightly.

As for costs, the J.A. Jones report in 1997 estimated the cost of cleaning up the former bases at $55 million, while in 2002 it was estimated that cleaning up the former US Naval Annex would cost $30 million.

The entire annex alone was estimated to cost $14.5 million, which included remediation, cleaning Bassett's cave and the 134 underground storage tanks scattered all over the site.

Dr. Gibbons said of that $14.5 million, $6 million was for environmental cleanup, $3.5 million for asbestos, $3.8 million for demolition of existing structures and $1.3 million for overall programme maintenance.

In recent weeks, the Minister of Works and Engineering, Lt. Col. David Burch, said much hinged on an environmental assessment of the former military base.

Once this assessment has been completed, the question will be who foots the bill for the expected multi-million dollar clean-up.