[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 31 (Thursday, March 11, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2723-S2724]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER:
  S. 2201. A bill to amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to provide for 
secondary containment to prevent methyl tertiary butyl ether and 
petroleum contamination; to the Committee on Environment and Public 
Works.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation to 
prevent chemicals that leak from underground storage tanks from causing 
environmental and public health damage. My colleague in the House of 
Representatives, Mr. Dingell, is introducing companion legislation.
  Underground storage tanks can hold extremely toxic chemicals that can 
move rapidly through soil, contaminating the ground, aquifers, streams 
and other bodies of water. Underground storage tanks are located in 
urban and rural areas. When they leak, they present substantial risks 
to groundwater quality, human health, environmental quality, and 
economic growth.
  There are approximately 700,000 underground storage tanks in the 
United States, and more than 430,000 confirmed releases from these 
tanks as of

[[Page S2724]]

mid-2003. By and large, MTBE contamination has come from leaking 
underground storage tanks. MTBE has contaminated water supplies in 43 
States. Twenty-nine States have drinking water contamination. Estimates 
indicate that it will cost at least $29 billion to clean up MTBE 
contamination nationwide. Currently, the leaking underground storage 
tanks program and other laws ensure that responsible parties pay to 
clean up the damage caused by these leaking spills.
  However, the best solution to leaking underground storage tanks is to 
prevent them from leaking in the first place with the use of secondary 
containment, such as double walls. There is already widespread support 
for this throughout the country. Twenty-one States already require 
secondary containment, either for all new or replaced tanks--such as in 
California, or for all new or replaced tanks in sensitive areas. In 
addition, two States are awaiting final passage or approval of such 
requirements, and one State requires tertiary, such as triple walls, 
containment. According to figures from the Petroleum Equipment 
Institute, 57 percent of all tanks installed from 2000 through 2003 
were double walled.
  But this is not fast enough in the face of the threats to our 
drinking and groundwater. Approximately 50 percent of the population 
relies on groundwater for their drinking water. In 2000, 42 States had 
MTBE detected in soil or groundwater at gasoline-contaminated leaking 
underground storage tank sites. The time to prevent contamination is 
now.
  We must ensure the environmental health and safety of our water. I 
encourage my colleagues to support this bill.
                                 ______