[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 15, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H4326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              MIAMI RIVER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, the Miami River project must be a 
major priority when Congress acts on the energy, water and 
appropriations bill later this year. At long last. The Miami River 
appears headed for a long overdue clean-up and revitalization. For the 
first time, a broad-based coalition of community leaders, business 
interests, and officials at the Federal, State, and local levels have 
united to work for this goal which is vitally important for both the 
future of our growing trade with our neighbors to the south as well as 
for preserving a waterway which is a key part of our ecosystem.
  I am working with members of the south Florida congressional 
delegation, with the Miami River Commission and the Miami River Marine 
Group to ensure that the Miami River is a top funding priority in the 
energy and water appropriations bill later this year.
  Recently the prospects of a Miami River clean-up brightened 
considerably after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it 
would pick up the majority of the costs of disposing contaminated 
sediments from the River. This new policy came after a meeting with 
Corps officials, with representatives from my office and Senator Bob 
Graham's office, and the Miami River Commission managing director, 
David Miller. This decision will allow the 4-year phase dredging 
project proposed by the Miami River Commission to become a reality.
  Under this plan the Federal Government would pay 47 million of the 
total cost of the 64 million required to dredge the River. The first 
step in funding this plan will be the approval of a $5 million initial 
Federal appropriations in the energy appropriations bill. These are 
important economic and environmental reasons which have led us to this 
broad-based effort to clean up the Miami River.
  The initial effort at the Federal level was begun by my predecessor, 
the late Claude Pepper, who placed the original language for the Miami 
River in the bill in 1986 and helped pass the original feasibility 
study of the Miami River in 1972. This resulted in the Army Corps of 
Engineers 1990 recommendations for navigational maintenance dredging of 
the River. The Miami River needs to be dredged because, after years of 
neglect, it has become the most polluted River in our State.
  This problem originated in the 1930s when the River was dredged as a 
Federal navigation channel. Recent studies of bottom sediments of the 
River have uncovered a 65-year history of pollution from a wide variety 
of sources.
  South Florida's post-war growth created over 69 square miles of 
mainly industrialized urban land areas which have loaded the River with 
pollutants via storm water systems. Numerous studies by the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers and State and local agencies all confirm that the 
Miami River has the most contaminated sediments in Florida and that 
only dredging can remove this pollution.
  The need for prompt action to dredge the River is reinforced by its 
role as the major part of Biscayne Bay. The bay is one of the most 
significant water bodies in the United States, providing recreational 
and economic opportunities for over 2 million south Florida residents 
and supporting a great variety of marine life. Continued delay in 
dredging the River will permit the sediment to pollute this important 
water preserve. Failure to dredge could prevent the Miami River from 
becoming a major contributor to international trade and economic growth 
in south Florida.
  As Florida's fifth largest port, the Miami River helps cargo carriers 
serve over 83 ports in the Caribbean and Latin America, and I urge my 
colleagues to support this inclusion in the bill later this year.




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