[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 58 (Wednesday, March 29, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E711-E712]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


INTRODUCTION OF THE UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER WATER POLLUTION CONTROL 
         ACT AND A BILL TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE FOR U.S. COLONIAS

                                 ______


                             HON. ED PASTOR

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 28, 1995
  Mr. PASTOR. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation to amend 
the Clean Water Act to provide a basic level of protection to human 
health and the environment for millions of United States citizens who 
live along our border with Mexico.
  Specifically, the bill authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency 
[EPA] to provide financial and other assistance to the Border 
Environmental Cooperation Commission [BECC], the International Boundary 
and Water Commission [IBWC], and other appropriate State, Federal, or 
local governmental agencies for the construction of waste water 
treatment facilities in the vicinity of the United States-Mexico 
border.
  Simply put, Mr. Speaker, this legislation will save lives.
  More than 9 million people live within 65 miles of the 2,000-mile-
long United States-Mexico border. Rapid population growth on both sides 
of the border in conjunction with relatively unplanned development in 
Mexico, have overwhelmed the existing wastewater infrastructure in the 
region. The net result is raw sewage flowing into the United States and 
contaminating our surface and ground water. It is an environmental and 
human health debacle of Third World proportions that threatens the 
health of millions of people.
  In Nogales, AZ, as well as in many of the border regions of Texas, 
California, and New Mexico, the geography is such that the rivers and 
streams flow north. Many times, these ``rivers'' are nothing more than 
dry washes that run with water only during storms or when effluent is 
discharged. The Nogales Wash, which runs through the center of the 
town, is typical of these bodies of water. Nogales, AZ is a small town 
of approximately 25,000 people. It's sister city in Mexico, Nogales, 
Sonora, contains between 250,000 to 300,000 persons. The two cities are 
linked by family ties, a common heritage and language, and a shared 
environment. Unfortunately, a lack of infrastructure in Nogales, Sonora 
has turned the Nogales Wash into what the Arizona Republic described in 
a February 1994 article as ``an open drainage ditch that carries 
industrial runoff and sewage right through the downtown'' of Nogales, 
AZ.
  While an international waste water treatment plant, operated through 
a binational agreement between the Mexico and United States sections of 
the International Boundary and Water Commission [IBWC], treats sewage 
from both Nogales, Sonora and Nogales, Mexico, the plant is near 
capacity and often exceeds capacity during storms. Since 1990, for 24 
hours a day, 7 days a week, chlorine has been added to the wastewater 
in the Nogales Wash to kill the fecal bacteria. Yet, petroleum products 
and other industrial chemicals continue to pollute the wash. In 1991, 
the wash, which runs by homes, businesses, and school bus stops, 
actually caught fire. Once again, Mr. Speaker, I am not describing some 
impoverished developing nation, but a thriving city in the United 
States.
  Recent studies by the University of Arizona and the Arizona 
Department of Health Services found that rates of lupus in Nogales, AZ 
are 4.5 times the national average. The rates of leukemia and multiple 
myeloma cancer were also found to be several times higher than the 
national average. While no evidence directly linking these abnormally 
high rates of disease to the pollution problems of Nogales has been 
found, there is a strong suspicion that such is the case. The report by 
the University of Arizona found that the incidence of lupus increased 
among residents living near the Nogales Wash, and the Department of 
Health Services stated that there is ``strong evidence'' that the high 
rate of lupus is a result ``complex environmental exposures.''
  The problems of Nogales, AZ are, unfortunately, not unique to that 
city. Towns and municipalities along the border, from San Diego, CA to 
Brownsville, TX are experiencing similar environmental nightmares that 
demand attention from the Federal Government. Clearly, it is the 
Federal Government's responsibility to ensure that a U.S. city is not 
adversely impacted by waste products emanating from a 
[[Page E712]]  foreign national. Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker, in 
stating that the purpose of this legislation is to solve environmental 
crises that, while binational in nature, are adversely impacting 
communities in the United States. This is not public works legislation 
for Mexico, but a public health bill for the United States.
  With the creation of the North American Development Bank [NADBANK] 
and the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission, we have begun the 
process of solving transboundary environmental problems in a binational 
manner. As the Federal agency with the primary responsibility for 
protecting human health and the environment, it is only proper that the 
EPA be able to commit its funds and resources to improving one of the 
most environmentally damaged areas of our country.
  This bill is a Federal solution to a Federal problem, and I urge my 
colleagues to support its inclusion in the reauthorization of the Clean 
Water Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I am also introducing, at the request of the 
administration, a bill to protect the environment and human health of 
those persons living in colonias along the border in the United States. 
These unincorporated communities lack basic waste water infrastructure 
and are being severely polluted by raw or partially treated sewage. 
Surface and groundwater contamination is rampant and these areas are 
fast becoming human health disasters.
  The bill would authorize the EPA to make grants for the construction 
of wastewater treatment works to service these colonias. Under the 
provisions of the legislation, the States are required to provide 50 
percent of the funding for these projects. There is desperate need for 
this assistance along our border with Mexico, especially in the State 
of Texas. Once again, Mr. Speaker, I want to make it clear that these 
monies are for waste water treatment works to benefit communities in 
the United States that are in desperate need of infrastructure most of 
us would consider rudimentary.
  I want to acknowledge the leadership of Congressmen Ron Coleman and 
Kika de la Garza in providing for colonias. Both members have 
introduced legislation to meet the needs of these communities, and I 
look forward to working with them to ensure that colonias all along the 
border become safe and healthy places in which to live.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank EPA Administrator Carol Browner 
for her leadership on these matters. Finally, after years of neglect 
under previous administrations, the United States-Mexico border is 
beginning to receive the attention it desperately needs. I commend 
Administrator Browner for her fine work and look forward to our 
continued efforts to improve the environment and health of our border 
communities.


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