Southern California Groundwater Remediation Act

Mr. Speaker, I commend Chairman Pombo for introducing the Llagas Reclamation Groundwater Remediation Initiative.

On January 16, 2003, residents of San Martin, Morgan Hill, and Gilroy in south Santa Clara County were shocked to learn that perchlorate had been detected in more than 800 area wells. The approximately 90,000 residents of the Llagas Groundwater Subbasin rely solely on groundwater for their drinking water supply, but the perchlorate concentration in more than 200 wells exceeds the California Public Health Goal of 6 micrograms per liter.

From 1956 to 1996, the Olin Corporation owned and, along with Standard Fusee, operated a flare manufacturing facility on Tennant Avenue in Morgan Hill. During that time, waste water containing perchlorate was discharged to evaporation ponds on the site, which allowed perchlorate to enter the subsurface and contaminate groundwater. The perchlorate was first detected in a public water supply well across the street from the Olin facility in Spring 2002. Subsequent groundwater testing by Olin and the Santa Clara Valley Water District revealed a 10.5 mile long perchlorate plume contaminating the groundwater in the area.

As a result, bottled water is being provided to approximately 800 households, and thousands of other residents are receiving treated groundwater from the city of Morgan Hill, the West San Martin Water Works, or San Martin County Water District. The level of community interest in the situation and participation in efforts to solve it, has been unprecedented. The Santa Clara Valley Water District has held two public meetings to respond to community concerns, and approximately 800 people attended the first meeting, with 450 attending the second meeting. Water District staff continues to receive dozens of inquiries from the public every week.

The Water District has spent more than $2,000,000 addressing the perchlorate issue to date. In addition, the City of Morgan Hill has incurred costs for wellhead treatment and the city of Gilroy has incurred costs for contingency planning. The county of Santa Clara has incurred costs related to analyzing health data and communicating health risks to the community. Residents in the affected area have devoted their own time and resources toward finding solutions. The entire community has been affected land is working together to find solutions, and the Federal Government should help in any way it can.

While much work has been done on this contamination case, significant unknowns remain and many of the necessary remediation efforts, including containment of the 10.5 mile long perchlorate plume, have not yet been started. Residents still wonder when the contamination will reach their wells, whether it is safe to eat produce from their gardens or the store, and whether health problems of people they know are related to the perchlorate contamination. The community has the right to have its groundwater restored to the condition it was in before it was polluted. That cleanup should begin now, before the plume affects any more areas.

H.R. 4459 establishes a program that can address the community's perchlorate needs and interests. The $25 million specified in the bill provides a means of implementing overdue solutions for the community. The funding in the bill provides a means for local agencies to implement timely, necessary solutions to protect the community, for which they can be reimbursed by the responsible party at a later date. It is not meant to excuse responsible parties from their duties to remediate contamination.

In the past, Chairman Pombo, Representative Lofgren, and I have been fortunate to secure appropriations for perchlorate groundwater remediation and cleanup in this area where our Congressional districts come together, but the implementing regulations have prevented the use of this funding to move many projects of interest to the community forward. The broad parameters of H.R. 4459, which authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the funding and implementation of a balanced, long-term remediation program for California, will provide for solutions the community is asking for.

Once again, I thank chairman Pombo for his hard work on this bill and for bringing it to the House floor quickly. I look forward to continuing to work with him in the future to solve the perchlorate problem in south Santa Clara County.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4606, the Southern California Groundwater Remediation Act.

First of all, I would like to thank our minority leader and our majority leader for supporting this bill. Our majority leader happened to go in the Inland Empire to see what is going on in that area, and I appreciate that.

The Southern California Groundwater Remediation Act is a long-term solution to helping cities in Southern California remove perchlorate from their drinking water. Perchlorate groundwater contamination has become a crisis in Southern California. This includes my hometown of Rialto in California.

Perchlorate is a main ingredient in rocket fuel. It has been found in drinking water supplies in 40 States, including California. It has been linked to thyroid damage and may be especially harmful to infants and developing fetuses and the 1.2 million women of childbearing age in San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange counties.

It is also harmful to those with weak immune systems, such as seniors and AIDS patients. There is a legal and moral obligation to provide safe and healthy water. Today, these obligations are in jeopardy. The hard-working families in these areas are not at fault and should not have to pay for these problems. We must protect the consumer. Southern California, and particularly the Inland Empire, has been greatly impacted by perchlorate. Perchlorate has been detected in 182 sources in the counties served by the Santa Ana River watershed.

There is a perchlorate plume in the Inland Empire in California that is 7 miles long. It has affected 20 wells in San Bernardino County and jeopardized the water supplies of 500,000 residents. The economic burden on these communities is almost as much of a concern as the potential health effects.

H.R. 4606 authorizes $50 million in much-needed assistance. It is modeled after a successful program in the San Gabriel Basin in southern California that has also suffered from perchlorate-polluted water. And it is similar to H.R. 4459, a bill introduced by the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) that deals with perchlorate in northern California and passed this House last week.

I urge my colleagues to support this urgent bill for southern California so we can tell these communities that help is on the way. I would like to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo), the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), the gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert), and the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Napolitano) for their support of H.R. 4606 and for moving this legislation forward quickly.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, before I speak to H.R. 4459, I just want to also take this opportunity to recognize the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian which will honor, memorialize, and teach the history and culture of the first people of this country and to welcome their representatives here to the Nation's Capitol.

Mr. Speaker, on H.R. 4459, many communities in California, and, in fact, throughout the Nation, are faced with the prospect of shutting down their drinking water supply wells because water has been contaminated with perchlorate or other chemicals. It is critically important we provide assistance to these communities so they can clean up their drinking water supplies.

H.R. 4459 will specifically provide assistance to communities in the Santa Clara Valley area of California. The Committee on Resources has also approved similar legislation, H.R. 4606, for Southern California, introduced by our colleague on the Committee on Resources, the gentleman from California (Mr. Baca). I support both bills and I appreciate the support and leadership demonstrated by the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) on this important problem.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank gentleman for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, in California's Eleventh District, the City of Morgan Hill and surrounding communities, face a serious problem due to groundwater contamination with perchlorate. Hundreds of private and city-owned wells have been closed, and many residents are forced to rely on bottled water.

To help remedy this situation, I introduce H.R. 4459, the Llagas Reclamation Groundwater Remediation Initiative. This bill will provide $25 million in Federal funding to assist the Santa Clara Valley Water District's efforts to identify the scope of the contamination and begin a comprehensive, long-term program to once again provide high-quality drinking water to the area's residents. This funding mechanism is based on a practical working model currently underway in the San Gabriel Basin in Southern California.

Everyone agrees on the need for safe drinking water for our communities. This bill reflects this consensus and puts words into action. It is my hope that this bill will act as a successful model for other areas of the country as well.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4606) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation and in coordination with other Federal, State, and local government agencies, to participate in the funding and implementation of a balanced, long-term groundwater remediation program in California, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4606, authored by the gentleman from California (Mr. Baca), authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the funding and implementation of a balanced, long-term groundwater remediation program in California. H.R. 4606 establishes the Southern California Basins Groundwater Remediation Fund within the U.S. Treasury to provide Federal cost-share monies to remediate groundwater supplies in the Santa Ana watershed. I urge adoption of this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.