[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 29, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H5924-H5925]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                NAFTA HAS FAILED THE ENVIRONMENTAL TEST

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from California [Mr. Filner] is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in a 
discussion of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, because 
it is of significant importance, not only to our country, but to my 
district in particular.
  NAFTA's rationales of the global economy, world trade and 
environment, are really local issues for those of us, as I do, that 
live along the United States-Mexico border. I represent part of the 
city of San Diego; I represent a good part of the California-Mexican 
border; and I will tell my colleagues that from our observation on the 
scene, NAFTA has failed the environmental test. NAFTA has failed the 
environmental test.
  The region that I represent includes Tijuana, the fastest growing 
city in Mexico, thanks to NAFTA and the Maquiladora program. In 
Tijuana, over 100,000 people work at approximately 1,000 of these 
plants that we call maquiladoras. Most of them are United States-owned. 
These factories range

[[Page H5925]]

from low-tech to very-high-tech. They produce televisions and VCR's, 
electric components and metals, automotive parts, textiles, and 
furniture. The four largest manufacturing sectors exist in Tijuana, and 
these are also the largest users of toxic chemicals.
  Having such a large number of industries in a relatively small area 
poses a real threat to residents not only in Mexico but on the United 
States side of the border as well. NAFTA supporters promised that 
industrial growth would occur throughout Mexico, but in fact the 
majority of growth continues to be concentrated along our border.
  In 1993, before NAFTA was passed, I had the opportunity to tour 
Tijuana, along with several of my congressional colleagues. We visited 
abandoned lead smelters, new industrial parks, and nearby residential 
areas. We witnessed the very poor environmental health conditions that 
existed at that time. Many of us, including myself, fought hard to 
ensure that NAFTA included detailed strategies to improve the 
environmental and labor conditions faced by people who lived along the 
border region.
  However, despite the side agreements and the mechanisms which were 
promised to solve these issues, the situation has simply not improved. 
Industry continues to grow in areas with little or no infrastructure to 
support the environmental health and safety needs of the working people 
and the residents in these areas.
  Just a few weeks ago, Madam Speaker, there was a tremendous hazardous 
waste fire in Tijuana, an unfortunate example of the many environmental 
hazards which NAFTA did not address. That fire, at a United States-
owned plant called Pacific Treatment, which is a transfer station for 
hazardous industrial waste, ignited a mixture of chemical substances. 
Firebombs exploded over the neighboring residential areas and factories 
adjacent to what we call the Otay Mesa Industrial Park. Not only did 
the Pacific Treatment facility lack the necessary emergency systems, 
such as sprinklers, but the entire industrial park, filled with 
manufacturing and chemical storage plants, contained not one fire 
hydrant.
  This industrial park is located only a few miles south of the United 
States-Mexico border. Over 200 tons of hazardous waste burned in the 
blaze, including organic solvent such as toluene, acetone, paint dust, 
and xylene, just to name a few. The blaze released a dark cloud of 
toxic fumes that blew directly in the residential neighborhood less 
than 300 yards away.
  Nearby residents complained of strong odors during the fire, and in 
the days that followed, they reported headaches, vomiting, eye and skin 
irritation. We all know that exposure to the chemicals released can 
lead to long-term health repercussions ranging from reproductive 
problems to damage of internal organs and the nervous system.
  The Tijuana Emergency Response Team was also put at risk by their 
dire shortage of equipment and inadequate preparation. They arrived on 
the scene with only 44 breathing apparatuses for 200 fire fighters. As 
a result, 50 fire-fighters suffered from smoke inhalation and 5 were 
hospitalized.
  No one should be surprised by this calamity. We are only lucky it was 
not worse. There are many changes that we need to make to protect both 
the United States and Mexican sides of the border. NAFTA must be 
revisited to address these environmental issues. NAFTA should not be 
expanded without first making sure that adequate infrastructure is in 
place to handle the resulting industrial growth. NAFTA's environmental 
side agreements should be brought back to the table and amended to 
include such items as, No. 1, that the United States and Mexico must 
create a truly effective system to track hazardous materials and waste 
from beginning to end, providing freedom of access to both countries' 
data.
  Madam Speaker, I include for the Record my remaining recommendations 
and look forward to a further discussion of the issues of NAFTA. NAFTA 
has failed the environmental test.
  The United States and Mexico must create a truly effective system to 
track hazardous materials and waste from beginning to end, providing 
freedom of access to both countries' data so that industry is more 
accountable and people are aware of the hazardous materials in their 
neighborhoods; the current HAZTRAKS system fails to meet these 
requirements.
  We must also create a binational emergency response system so when 
disasters such as the pacific Treatment fire occur, the impact of 
dangerous chemicals can be mitigated.
  The binational efforts currently in place, such as the Border XXI 
Program, have had no real impact on the border region. Let's not 
continue to just study the problems, but instead let's take action. The 
money currently spent on Border XXI studies and conferences should be 
spent on cleaning up known contaminated sites and preventing new 
disasters.
  Mr. Speaker, the environmental, health and safety problems that 
existed before NAFTA have not gone away. In fact, many of the 
conditions we witnessed three years ago have worsened. More people are 
at risk, more people are suffering the effects of industrialization 
without an adequate infrastructure. That is why we must not expand 
NAFTA. We must solve the very real health and safety problems that 
exist along the United States-Mexico border before we consider 
expansion of this trade policy.

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