A poisonous legacy of thousands of gallons of leaked fuel and dumped waste has left 260 acres of potentially prime real estate unfit for development and recoverable only by means of a multi-million-dollar clean-up to be funded by Bermuda taxpayers.

Never before have the Bermuda public been allowed to see the scenes of environmental vandalism that we are revealing today.

Taken in the fenced-off Southampton peninsula that was home to the US Naval Annex for more than half a century, these pictures were taken in the 1990s during testing commissioned by the Bermuda Government.

A source close to that testing told us that total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), a group of toxic substances found in fuel, had been found in three groundwater sites at Morgan's Point at a concentration six times the globally accepted remedial ARAR (applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements) criteria.

The TPH is just one of the toxic groups of substances found on the site. They include heavy metals like lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium and copper. Inside we show the latest available information of the threat they pose to human health.

One of our pictures shows how a test sample from a borehole on the site was so concentrated with fuel that it caught fire when lit.

Another shows staff dressed in protective suits taking samples of a thick, black toxic soup of sewage and waste oil which now forms a pit of tar in Bassett's Cave.

Another shows evidence of a crude effort to clean out one of more than 134 fuel tanks of varying sizes left here by the Americans. The tank appears to have been ripped open and a start made on dumping soil into it to soak up some of the fuel and sediment left inside. The cut-open tank was left open to the air.

Environmental consultants found that around 60 per cent of the tanks had leaked into the soil.

Our source said that one of the tanks found to have leaked was huge, with a capacity of more than 1.1 million gallons. It is situated close to the intersection of Randolph Road and Constitution Drive. The Americans installed the tank in the late 1950s without many of the basic safety standards required of fuel tanks today.

A single-walled steel tank known as Tank A/Bulk 1, it has no systems for protection against spill or overflow, vapour recovery or leak detection.

In addition, the tank has no cathodic protection ? something routinely added to modern fuel tanks to lessen the effects of corrosion.

Three testing wells were drilled in the vicinity of the tank, at depths of between 50 and 85 feet. The source said there was a strong smell of gasoline during the drilling of all three wells and some fuel-like substance was found at shallow depths.

Thousands of gallons of jet fuel are believed to be floating on top of the water table, close to a supply of well water that feeds 75 homes in the western third of the island.

The Environment Ministry has been monitoring pollution on the site, while Works & Engineering will take responsibility for the clean-up.

The US was freed from responsibility for paying for the clean-up of Morgan's Point and the other baselands when the US Bases (Termination of Agreement) Act was passed by the House of Assembly two years ago.

That followed years of negotiations in which Ministers from both UBP and PLP administrations travelled to Washington to push their case for the Americans to pay for the mess.

Yesterday Works & Engineering Minister Ashfield DeVent said the Government was waiting for a report on the disposal of asbestos from the site being carried out by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) before any clean-up could begin.

And he added he had not ruled out the chance of help with funding from an outside source.

Shadow Environment Minister Cole Simons said it was "time for action, not more testing".

Asked about plans for the clean-up of Morgan's Point, Mr. DeVent said: "Basically, it's still under review. There is some asbestos out there and it will come under the general plan to deal with it. We are awaiting a report back from the FCO and I don't believe we have received it yet.

"Also there is sewage and spent oil in Bassett's Cave which is presently being monitored to make sure it is not migrating any further into the water system. We are being updated on that by the Environment Ministry.

"Also, there may be some J-5 jet fuel that may have leaked from holding tanks up there."

Britain has helped Bermuda with the asbestos study and Mr. DeVent said the Government retained some hope that a clean-up cost expected to run into tens of millions of dollars would not have to be funded completely from the Bermuda public purse.

"I would not say we have given up hope of help," Mr. DeVent said. "We are still pursuing all options.

"But it may be that we have to entirely foot the bill ourselves. That is an eventuality we must be prepared for ? and it's not going to be cheap."

He added that the Cabinet had decided to put any development of Morgan's Point on hold.

Two weeks ago, a statement from Candy-Lee Foggo, Acting Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Environment, said water was being tested at 12 monitoring wells at Morgan's Point and there were plans to drill six more.

She added: "There is evidence that the contaminants are not migrating into the fresh water lens. The fuel pollutants are naturally not moving and pretty stable in the ground. It is not considered to be a public health threat. The clean-up should proceed as soon as possible."

Shadow Environment Minister Cole Simons said yesterday that substantial testing of the site had taken place soon after the Americans had moved out nine years ago and now was the time for cleaning up.

"We've been presented with evidence of the crime, we have got the blood samples, so what more do we need before we launch the investigation?" Mr. Simons said.

"Now is the time for action. We don't need more testing.

"There is no way we could put anything up there until this site has been completely remediated. We know there is oil up there and heavy metals that could be harmful to human health.

"There are fuel tanks near the harbour that might be polluting the sea. Are fish being affected? Is this stuff getting into the food chain?"

Mr. Simons dismissed the suggestion that the United Bermuda Party should have done more to clean up the baselands, as they were in government up to 1998.

"We got the environmental report and the estimated cost of the clean-up done and we were in negotiations with the US Government to foot the bill for cleaning it up," Mr. Simons said.

"When we were replaced as Government, it was up to the Progressive Labour Party Government to deal with it.

"They sold out to the US with the bases agreement and the US paid just $11 million for the upkeep of a bridge. Now it is the Government's responsibility to clean up and remediate this property."

Dr. Kent Simmons, of Bermuda Water Consultants, has been carrying out tests for the Government at Morgan's Point. He did not respond to our call yesterday, but last May in an interview with this newspaper, he was outspoken about the pollution at the former Annex and spoke of the need for immediate action.

"At this point, there a mix of sewage and oil in Bassett's Cave which is about six or seven feet deep," said Dr. Simmons, chief scientist in charge of environmental programmes at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research. "The sewage is degrading over time, but it is not a pretty sight.

"This stuff is in the groundwater already. It is not stagnant. Over periods of time, this will migrate in a particular direction according to the groundwater flow.

"I can't say whether this will be a problem in the next year or in the next five years, but I don't think it's likely it will sit there indefinitely. At some point in the future, it will be a problem we will notice. The problem is there now, but we are not seeing it yet.

"It certainly needs to be cleaned up. I'd like to see a plan put together that does not wait until we have to do it immediately ? a manageable plan."

He said seepage into the fresh water lens was possible, but waiting until there were signs that had happened was the wrong way to approach the problem.

"Any type of clean-up will take a significant period of time," Dr. Simmons said. "If we wait until the problem is noticeable, then it will be very, very costly to deal with. If we look at it over an extended period of time, say five to seven years, you could reduce the cost significantly. And you could take your time and dispose of this stuff properly."