[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Pages 27798-27799]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                                  MTBE

  Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. President, for the third day this 
week, I have come to the floor to speak about MTBE.
  This is the gas additive that has become a huge concern for millions 
across the Nation because of the contamination it has caused.
  That is certainly true of many communities throughout New Hampshire 
where it has become a crisis. And the crisis will continue to escalate 
unless it is dealt with.
  I was pleased last week when the majority leader made a commitment to 
me that the Senate will vote on MTBE legislation before the end of 
February.
  Until the day of that vote arrives, I will continue to come to the 
floor to remind Senators of the terrible impact that MTBE is having on 
the Nation. And remind them why it is important that we act now.
  In 1990, the Clean Air Act was amended to include a clean gasoline 
program. That program mandated the use of an oxygenate in our fuel--
MTBE was one of two options to be used.
  The program with MTBE is that when it is leaked or spilled, it moves 
through the ground very quickly and into the water table.
  Many homes in New Hampshire and across the nation have lost use of 
their water supply because of MTBE contamination.
  Many others have had to install expensive water treatment systems in 
order to drink the water or even shower.
  According to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, 
there may be up to 40,000 private wells with some MTBE contamination. 
Of those, up to 8,000 may have MTBE contamination over state health 
standards.
  So far this week, I have talked about the problems faced by families 
and small businesses throughout the regions of New Hampshire.
  Today I want to talk about the Sojka family who have a home on 
Cobbetts Pond in Windham.
  The water supply for the home is a deep, bedrock on-site well.
  Just about two years ago, the Sojkas began noticing that the water 
had a strange odor and that it left a residue on their hands.
  So they did a little test of their own to see if there really was 
anything unusual with their water. Their son Brian filled up a bowl 
full of tap water and let it sit overnight. They were horrified with 
their finding next morning. The water had a slick oily film floating on 
top--the same water that the family had been drinking, bathing in, and 
cleaning their food with.
  As a result, the Sojkas had their water tested. The test revealed 
MTBE contamination at a level twice as high as the State standard.
  They contacted the State of New Hampshire for help--by now, it had 
become quite common for the state to get this type of request.
  The state began providing bottled water to the family. Just like the 
Miller family I spoke of yesterday, the Sojka's pointed out similar 
concern--that while bottled water is fine for drinking, it doesn't help 
with other daily needs such as: bathing; washing fruits and vegetables; 
and cooking.
  Within a few months of the initial tests at the Sojka home, the MTBE 
contamination levels in the well jumped up by almost 8,000 percent.
  Unbelievable contamination!
  Last summer, the State installed an elaborate and cumbersome water 
treatment system on the Sojka's property. Unlike the Millers that I 
spoke of yesterday, who had a system installed in their home, the 
system needed for the Sojka's was too large to fit in the home
  The State had to build a shed separate from the house for the 
commercial water treatment system. The system consists of an enormous 
commercial air stripper and two 6 cubic foot carbon units.
  Such a system costs in the neighborhood of $20,000.
  Fortunately for the family, the state is providing the system and 
cost of operation and maintenance to the tune of an additional $5,000 
per year.
  Can you imagine having a large chuck of your back yard being occupied 
by a commercial water treatment system.
  It is terrible that this has to happen to any family. And it is 
horribly wrong for federal mandate to cause such pain.
  This problem isn't unique to New Hampshire--it exists in Maine, 
California, Nevada, Texas, New York, Rhode Island, and on and on.
  We would be delinquent in our duties as United State Senators if we 
were to sit back and do nothing about this.
  We must act soon.
  I have a bill that has been reported out of committee two years in a 
row that will address these problems.
  Mr. President, the time to act is now--it is time to help out the 
families who have fallen victim to a Federal mandate.

                          ____________________


  Mr. CLELAND. Mr. President, the far-reaching education package before 
us today makes significant strides toward meeting three of America's 
most important education goals: improved student achievement, increased 
accountability, and enhanced teacher quality. I am very pleased that 
the conference report includes two of the amendments I offered to the 
Senate BEST Act--my Immigrants to New Americas amendment and my 
amendment to establish a National Center for School and Youth Safety. I 
thank the distinguished managers of the Senate bill, Senator Kennedy 
and Senator Jeffords, for their support and their willingness to assist 
me. I also want to express my appreciation to the staff of the Senator 
from Massachusetts for the courtesies and counsel they showed to me and 
to my staff.
  Finally, I want to thank the ``education team'' on my own staff, led 
by Lynn Kimmerly, my superb deputy legislative director, and Donni 
Turner, my outstanding chief staff counsel, who helped not only in 
developing and winning support for my amendments but in analyzing and 
advising me on all of the details of this landmark legislation. They 
have served our State and our Nation well, and our country's children 
will be the beneficiaries.
  My Immigrants to New Americans language addresses the explosion of 
immigrants coming to this country over the past decade. Information 
from the 2000 Census shows that the impact from this wave of 
immigration is having a dramatic impact on schools and communities 
across America, including non-traditional immigrant communities in 
states like Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Georgia and the 
Carolinas. My amendment will provide resources to these communities to 
help ensure that these children--and their families--are being served 
appropriately. Specifically, it would expand the use of funds under the 
Emergency Immigrant Education set-aside to include activities which, 
one, assist culturally and linguistically diverse children achieve 
success in America's

[[Page 27799]]

schools and, two, allow local educational agencies to partner with 
community-based organizations to provide the families of these children 
access to comprehensive community services.
  My second amendment incorporated in this landmark legislation 
addresses the deeply troubling issue of violence at Columbine and 
Heritage High and in other schools across the country. My School Safety 
Enhancement Amendment, based on the best research in the field of 
school violence prevention, would create a National Center for School 
and Youth Safety tasked with the mission of providing schools with 
adequate resources to prevent incidents of violence. The National 
Center would offer emergency assistance to local communities to respond 
to school safety crises, including counseling for victims, assistance 
to law enforcement to address short-term security concerns, and advice 
on how to enhance school safety and prevent future incidents. It would 
also operate a toll-free, anonymous nationwide hotline for students to 
report criminal activity and other high-risk behaviors, such as 
substance abuse, gang or cult affiliation, depression, or other warning 
signs of potentially violent behavior. Finally, the National Center 
would compile information about the best practices in school violence 
prevention, intervention, and crisis management. The goal of the 
National Center for School and Youth Safety is to involve the entire 
community--parents, school officials, law enforcement officers, and 
local governments and agencies--to make them aware of the resources, 
grants and expertise available to enhance school safety and prevent 
school crime.
  In closing, I would like to quote former British Prime Minister 
Benjamin Disraeli, who once said: ``Upon the education of the people of 
this country, the fate of this country depends.'' One of the most 
important investments this nation can make is an investment in the 
education of its future leaders. It is my fervent hope that Members of 
Congress, on both sides of the aisle, will see the wisdom in investing 
adequate dollars to carry out the worthy goals of this critically 
important piece of legislation--improved student achievement, increased 
accountability, and enhanced teacher quality. It is an investment in 
the future of America, and the future, after all, is in very small 
hands.

                          ____________________