[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 29 (Thursday, March 14, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1928-S1929]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         ARSENIC-TREATED RESIDENTIAL-USE LUMBER PROHIBITION ACT

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I take this opportunity to 
share with the Senate a letter I received from a 13-year-old named 
Kevin from St. Cloud, FL. It is a town in Osceola County, near Orlando, 
FL, in the center of our State. Kevin writes this letter, and I will 
read part of it:

       I'm 13 years old and a Boy Scout of America. I would like 
     to address you about a problem in a local park, that may be a 
     problem in other parks. The park near my house has arsenic in 
     the wood.
       Please help with this quickly. I have a little brother who 
     plays in the park.

  That is from a 13-year-old writing to a Senator.

[[Page S1929]]

  Kevin, I hear you. I hope my colleagues do, too.
  Kevin is addressing a problem many families and communities all 
across our Nation now find themselves confronting. They are all asking 
the question: Is my local park safe from the arsenic-treated wood 
which, when the rains come, leach the arsenic from the playground wood 
into the soil? Should I tell my children they cannot play in the park 
because of the wood that is treated as a preservative with arsenic?
  What I found is that local officials, county commissioners, city 
commissioners all across Florida and many other States have raised 
similar questions about the use of arsenic to treat wood in playgrounds 
and backyard decks. The fact is, none of these communities has been 
given any clear guidance of what to do about arsenic-treated wood in 
their parks, in their backyards, and neither have the parents of kids 
such as Kevin. That is why I wanted to share Kevin's letter with the 
Senate today. The Senate has an opportunity, after more than two 
decades of delay, to finally ban the use of arsenic-treated wood and to 
provide parents and communities and local officials the information 
needed so they can make intelligent decisions about safety.
  While the Environmental Protection Agency recently announced a 
voluntary phaseout of arsenic-treated wood, this agreement with the 
wood-preserving industry does not go far enough. For one, it is only a 
voluntary agreement, reminiscent of a voluntary agreement 20 years ago 
that the industry did not honor. Remember, we are talking about arsenic 
which can cause cancer and other serious illnesses, which is what this 
little boy from St. Cloud, FL, is writing me about because his little 
brother plays in the park.
  Many European countries recognized the dangers long ago. It is time 
we get serious about a process we know can be harmful to children and 
consumers. The EPA has studied and negotiated this issue to death. Yet 
the best deal for consumers that they can come up with is a voluntary 
phaseout. Also, the EPA agreement with the wood-preserving industry 
fails to provide enough guidance to consumers, fails to provide the 
guidance to parents and local government officials about what to do 
with all that arsenic-treated wood on those playgrounds about which 
little Kevin is writing.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in enacting legislation I filed to 
permanently ban this potentially harmful product. It is S. 1963.

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