[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 204 (Tuesday, December 19, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2392]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




[[Page E2392]]


    LEGISLATION TO AMEND THE COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE, 
                COMPENSATION, AND LIABILITY ACT OF 1980

                                 ______


                      HON. RODNEY P. FRELINGHUYSEN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 18, 1995

  Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation 
to amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act of 1980 [CERCLA]. My bill would remove the authority for 
contracting oversight from the purview of the Environmental Protection 
Agency and place it solely under the jurisdiction of the Army Corp of 
Engineers.
  Mr. Speaker, this change makes sense given the expertise of each 
agency. The Army Corp of Engineers is far better suited to handle 
contracting work and oversight of construction of the design and remedy 
at a Superfund site than the more technical, environmental orientation 
of the EPA.
  The reason why I am introducing this legislation today is in direct 
response to an incident that recently happened in my district during an 
already lengthy and tumultuous cleanup. Hopefully, passage of this 
legislation will prevent future situations, such as the one I am about 
to describe, from happening again in the future.
  The asbestos dump site in Millington, NJ, is comprised of two 
residential farms and part of the Great Swamp National Wildlife 
Reserve. It contains large amounts of asbestos that was dumped on the 
property. On one of these two residential sites, the homeowners--a 
family of five--were involved in a lengthy cleanup with the EPA and had 
been relocated several times, for months at the time. The EPA had 
contracted out for the construction of the design and the contractor 
then hired a subcontractor, with a less than perfect track history, to 
complete construction of the design.
  The EPA subcontractors, instead of bringing in clean fill to top the 
asbestos on the family's property, brought in contaminated soil from 
another site. This horrendous mistake has added additional years to 
cleanup and the family's nightmare.
  Mr. Speaker, again, I believe that the Army Corp of Engineers is far 
better equipped to handle the details of the physical cleanup of these 
Superfund sites, and to oversee more effectively contracting work. At 
many sites, such a mistake would add only years and costs to taxpayers 
for cleanup. In this case, it added not only time and money, but 
additional grief for a family wanting only to have their home and 
property cleaned up to a livable standard. I believe that my bill would 
prevent more situations like these and improve the efficiency of site 
cleanups.

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