[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 186 (Thursday, December 11, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S10901]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CLEANUP OF NUCLEAR MISSILE SITE IN CHEYENNE, WYOMING

  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I stand here today holding a 500-page 
report, a report that was sent to my office yesterday by the Army Corps 
of Engineers. I will not read the whole report, I am happy to say, but 
I want to call attention to the Senate and to the country, as well as 
to the people of Wyoming, what is contained within this report.
  This report, at a cost of who knows how many taxpayer dollars, says 
something I have known and the people of Wyoming have known to be true. 
It says the Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for the 
contamination of the water wells of the city of Cheyenne. Now, let me 
clarify. The report does not actually say the words ``we are 
responsible.'' Washington could never admit its faults so directly. No. 
Instead, the report states that other potential sources of 
contamination, other potential sources of this trichloroethylene--the 
contaminant, the chemical that is in our city's wells--it says that 
other potential sources ``may be limited.'' I guess that is 
Washington's way of saying: It was us.
  The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and the city of 
Cheyenne found evidence of trichloroethylene in the water supply in 
1998--10 years ago. The culprit is a dormant Cold War-era nuclear 
missile area. It is a missile site and has been there for a long time. 
The Army Corps of Engineers admits that over 1,800 gallons of this 
contaminant, TCE, was dumped at the Atlas 4 nuclear missile site each 
year--each year--of the operation of the missile site, beginning in the 
mid-1960s.
  Well, the discharge of TCE the Army Corps admits to is a mere 1 
mile--1 mile--from the water wells of the city of Cheyenne. The Wyoming 
Department of Environmental Quality has claimed there is one giant 
plume of TCE emanating from the former nuclear missile site, working 
its way into and then contaminating the city's water wells. The missile 
site is currently being cleaned up under the Superfund laws by the Army 
Corps of Engineers. Unfortunately, the Army Corps only admits 
culpability for TCE contamination directly emanating from the nuclear 
missile site. They allege that there is actually a gap between the 
plume they admit to at the nuclear missile site and the one around the 
city's water wells--1 mile apart.
  Now, you might think it odd that the Department of Defense, given the 
volume of this chemical that has been dumped year after year in rural 
Wyoming, would not admit that it was the responsible party for 
contaminating the city's wells. That would just make sense. They would 
say: Yes, we dumped it here. It is right here, a mile away in the 
wells. It is our fault. No. It would just make sense to us that they 
would admit it. But, in fact, the Army Corps over the last few years 
has looked to blame almost anyone else, has looked to blame others than 
to say they are responsible for contaminating the city's wells. Well, 
such claims have included that there might have been a train derailment 
and the train might have been carrying TCE into the area. They said it 
might have been from a nearby oil rig, it might have been from a local 
shooting range. The Army Corps said: Anybody but us.
  I became involved in this issue after I felt the city of Cheyenne and 
the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality were being ignored by 
Washington. As ranking member of the Superfund and Environmental Health 
Subcommittee, I pushed for testing of the ground in that 1-mile area 
between the nuclear missile site and the water wells of the city of 
Cheyenne. The Army Corps finally agreed to do the testing and said it 
would also look into the historical use of this chemical in the 
Cheyenne area to make sure there was not another responsible party for 
the contamination.
  The final results--all 500 pages--were finally released this week. To 
no one's surprise who lives in Wyoming, to no one's surprise who is 
familiar with this issue, to no one's surprise but the Army Corps of 
Engineers, the contaminating chemical, TCE, was found in the ground 
between the nuclear missile site and the city's water wells, right 
where we said it would be. The report also revealed they found no other 
public records of TCE use in the Cheyenne area for any other reason. It 
just makes sense to us, and the cause is clear. Given these findings, 
it is time for the Army Corps to provide the funding the city needs to 
manage and to complete the current cleanup efforts.
  Now, let me be clear. The city of Cheyenne's water is safe. Untold 
thousands of taxpayer dollars have gone to keep TCE out of the water 
supply. The city of Cheyenne and the State of Wyoming have implemented 
the effective procedures to protect the folks in Cheyenne. Those 
efforts have been completely successful. But the Army Corps of 
Engineers and the U.S. Government have the responsibility to fund the 
cleanup. They have responsibility to fix the problem, and this report 
says it is so. It is time to do so.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.

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