TESTIMONY
BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON SUPERFUND, TOXICS, RISK AND WASTE MANAGEMENT
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
CRAIG
PERKINS, DIREGTOR OF ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
CITY OF
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA
On behalf of the Mayor and City
Council of the City of Santa Monica I want to thank you for the opportunity to
give testimony on S. 1850. First, I would like to share with you today the key
lessons we have learned from our painful experiences with underground storage
tanks and MTBE in Santa Monica. Santa Monica is a city of nearly 90,000
permanent residents and over 200,000 daily visitors. The City depends heavily
on groundwater for its drinking water supply. After many years of effort, by
1995 we had been able to maximize the use of local groundwater supplies and
achieve 70% water self-sufficiency. By using our sustainable local water
resources we were able to reduce our reliance on increasingly scarce water
imported from Northern California and the Colorado River. This all changed in
1996 when Santa Monica was hit with a drinking water catastrophe caused by MTBE.
Within a six-month period in 1996 MTBE forced Santa Monica to shut down most of
its water wells. These wells accounted for one-half of the total daily water
supply in Santa Monica and we must now import more than 80 percent of our
drinking water, putting further strain on California's already fragile water
supply system. The effects of MTBE can be devastating:
• Once
released from a tank or pipeline, MTBE travels quickly and readily dissolves in
water unlike the other chemicals in gasoline;
• MTBE has an
uncanny ability to find its way into drinking water wells. Although gasoline
has been around for decades, it is only the relatively recent addition of MTBE
that has caused widespread water contamination in Santa Monica and elsewhere;
• MTBE attacks
swiftly. Once discovered, MTBE levels in the City's wells rose more quickly
than any other water contaminant we had ever encountered; and
• MTBE
strikes at the heart of public confidence in the safety of drinking water
supplies. People will not drink water that smells and tastes like turpentine,
nor should they be expected to.
S. 1850 is a step in the right direction toward stricter
oversight of underground storage tanks and freeing up of additional
financial resources to facilitate inspection, enforcement and corrective
actions. However, based on our "real world" experience in Santa
Monica we believe that S. 1850 should go much farther in some keys areas.
First, the allocation of $200 million for corrective
actions related to MTBE releases is far less than what will be needed to clean
up the MTBE mess nationwide. The projected cost to just clean up Santa Monica's
main well field is over $200 million. Current estimates for the total cost of
nationwide MTBE clean-up are around $30 billion. Clearly, the costs for
remediation of MTBE and other water contamination must ultimately be raid for
by the polluter. But, unfortunately, those companies responsible for ceasing
the MTBE pollution in Santa Monica and many other communities have not yet
stepped forward to do what's right. Until they do, significant financial
assistance will be required to start the clean-up process.
Second, let's make sure we are
doing everything that we can to keep that underground storage tanks from
leaking in the
first place. Even the newest underground storage tanks leak, and the leaks are
often not in the tank itself but in the piping that connects the tank to the
fuel dispensing systems. A primary focus in S. 1850 needs to be placed on
inspection, training and enforcement. Too often in the past, operators of
underground fuel tanks have been able to act irresponsibly because the threat
of enforcement was remote or even nonexistent. Let's make sure that the tools
and resources are in place so that non-compliant tanks are taken out of service
and the public and environment are better protected.
Finally, nothing in S. 1850
should preclude any State or local government from seeking legal redress,
taking legal action or adopting regulations and standards of performance with
respect to underground storage tanks that are more stringent than federal law,
and S. 1850 should ensure that all underground storage tank installations at
federal facilities are subject to the same requirements as everyone else. S. 1850 should provide a
floor, but should not hamper state or local governments in their efforts to
either protect human health and the environment or pursue polluters.
If S. 1850 incorporates the stronger provisions suggested
above, it can become a very significant toot to not only begin the cleanup of
existing MTBE groundwater contamination but to prevent future storage tank
leaks as well.
The two irrefutable facts that have emerged from Santa
Monica's odyssey as the "poster child" for MTBE water contamination
are: 1) underground storage tanks leak; and 2) it is extremely difficult to get
polluters to pay for the clean up of their pollution. Please strengthen S. 1850
so that we will all have a better chance of not repeating the mistakes of the
past. We need to create better options, which is what S. 1850 is about. Thank
you for the privilege of testifying before your subcommittee today.