The United States Department of Defense expressed "concerns" regarding the contamination at Lajes Base in the Azores. This admission comes at a time when the department appears to have backed away from the intention it had announced a year ago to stop the decontamination works at the site.
The American position contrasts with what had been previously announced, when the US indicated plans to interrupt the decontamination work at the military base. However, the Department of Defense did not formally commit to maintaining this work.
Lajes Base has been the subject of environmental concerns due to the contamination of soils and groundwater, resulting from military activities carried out at the site over the decades.
This development comes in the context of relations between Portugal and the United States regarding the American military presence in the Azores, an issue that has implications both environmentally and geopolitically for both nations.
