[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 18 (Monday, January 30, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H847]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   AN UNFUNDED MANDATE COULD BANKRUPT AND CLOSE THE WATER TREATMENT 
                         FACILITY IN GRETNA, NE

  (Mr. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, last year the city of Gretna, NE, a 
small town in my district in the eastern part of Nebraska, population a 
couple thousand, was ordered by the EPA to spend $12,000 above and 
beyond their normal costs of $2,000 for additional testing to determine 
if there were any synthetic compounds in their drinking water.
  Mr. Speaker, the EPA qualifying limits for synthetic compounds were 
set so low that one person would have to consume hundreds of thousands 
of gallons of water in order to show any adverse effect.
  The city of Gretna passed with flying colors, but if, by chance, one 
well had failed the test, the Gretna taxpayers would have faced over 
$500,000 in additional costs. The entire annual operating budget for 
the Gretna water treatment facility is only $100,000. To mandate 
unnecessary costs would have bankrupt and closed the only water 
treatment facility that Gretna has.
  Mr. Speaker, the EPA is a prime example of a big government gone bad. 
We must protect the taxpayers from these types of unfunded mandates 
before we break the backs of States, municipalities, and the taxpayers 
across this country.

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