A decade after parts of Fort George G. Meade were added to a list of the country's most serious environmental hazards, Army officials say delays in cleaning up the mess are a result of an argument between federal attorneys.

Gary Zolyak, attorney for Fort Meade, said lawyers with the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Defense lawyers disagree on which law should govern the process: an old one that has been extensively used before or a new one.

"What you really have here are the attorneys not working well with one another," Mr. Zolyak told reporters at a luncheon last week.

Four parts of the fort were added...