[CPEO-MEF] Congressman Addresses Ordnance On House Floor

[Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@cpeo.org>]

Following is Congressman Blumenhauer's floor speech of April 3rd after he
had returned from a briefing on and tour of Spring Valley located in
Washington, DC.  --Aimee
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM 
(House of Representatives - April 03, 2001)

Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I have just returned from the campus of
American University in the exclusive Spring Valley residential community
here in Washington, D.C. 

 From a distance one could not imagine, but it is actually one of over a
thousand sites around the country where war is being continued; 26 years
after the Vietnam War, 56 years after the conclusion of World War II, 83
years after World War I, there is still a battle taking place right here
on American soil. It involves mines, nerve gases, and toxics and
explosive shells. It has claimed at least 65 lives, and has maimed and
injured many more. Sadly, it continues every day, and if we are not
careful, it will continue for another thousand years. 

Toxic explosive waste of our military activities in the United States,
unexploded ordnances on formerly used defense installations probably
contaminates 20 to 25 million acres in the United States, and the number
could be as high as 50 million acres. Sadly, no one can give us an
accurate appraisal of the problem. What we do know is at the current rate
of spending, it will take centuries, maybe even a thousand years or more,
to return this land to safe and productive use. Some may be so damaged,
we may not attempt to clean it up. 

Unexploded ordnances are a serious problem today. Human activity and
wildlife are encroaching on more and more of these sites as our
neighborhoods grow and sprawl. At the same time, the natural rhythms of
nature, flooding, earthquakes, and landslides, aided and abetted by human
activity, exposes these dangers. Today, across America, we are finding
lost and forgotten unexploded ordnance that was intentionally buried in a
feeble attempt to dispose of it, or a shell that missed its mark and did
not explode as intended. 

There are many targets toward which citizens can direct their
frustrations and in some cases anger: the Department of Defense, the Army
Corps of Engineers or EPA. People have some legitimate concerns about
what these and other agencies have done in the past and what they are
doing now. But there is one participant that is missing in action, and
that is the United States Congress. Only we in Congress can set adequate
funding levels, budget clearly, and then make sure that enough money is
appropriated to do the job right. Congress can pinpoint managerial
responsibility and establish the rules of the game. 

It is not acceptable to me for Congress to occasionally step in from the
sidelines, complain, protest, and then shift inadequate funding from one
high-priority project to another high-priority project. This ability to
find an unexploded ordnance, decontaminate sites and have the
infrastructure is going to be a zero-sum game if we do not properly
advance the goal of protection. 

Mr. Speaker, Congress needs to report for duty, and needs to provide the
administrative and financial tools that are necessary. What I am talking
about will not affect active ranges and readiness. That is a separate
topic with its own set of issues. My concern is the closed, transferred
and transferring ranges where the public is exposed or soon will be.

More than 1,000 years to clean up these sites is not an appropriate
timetable when people are at risk every day. In the 1980s, three boys in
San Diego were playing in a field next to a subdivision that they lived
in, and they found a shell. It exploded and killed two of them. American
University campus that I just left has a child care center that is now
closed down because of high levels of arsenic contamination because this
area during World War I was a test ground for poison and chemical
warfare. 

Mr. Speaker, we must make sure that whether it is in suburban Washington,
D.C., on Martha's Vineyard or in Camp Bonneville in my community that we
get the job done, and it is not appropriate to take a millennium or even
a century to do it. We need to step up and do the job. 

Mr. Speaker, my goal in Congress is to make sure that every Member
understands what is going on in their State because there are these toxic
waste dumps, chemical and weapons disposal in every State. We can make
sure that somebody is in charge, that there is enough funding, and we get
the job done so that no child will be at risk for death, dismemberment or
serious illness as a result of the United States Government not cleaning
up after itself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aimee R. Houghton                                 

Associate Director, CPEO

122 C Street NW, Suite 700

Washington, DC  20001-2109

tel: 202-662-1888; fax: 202-628-1825

Email: aimeeh@cpeo.org

www.cpeo.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~