Statement of Senator Lincoln D. Chafee
Regarding the Underground Storage Tank
Compliance Act of 2001
Pascoag, Rhode Island
February 25, 2002
Good morning. The Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee is conducting today=s field hearing to examine issues surrounding
leaking underground storage tanks and the impact that they have on
communities. This hearing will also
focus on the Underground Storage Tank Compliance Act of 2001, which I introduced
in December. Anyone who has followed
the situation in Pascoag will understand the severe impacts that can occur when
underground storage tanks leak and go undetected. While we are working at the federal, state, and local levels to
bring assistance to you, it is my hope that your experiences will help foster
policy changes that will prevent this type of crisis from reoccurring.
People affected by the gasoline additive known as MTBE frequently ask
how it reached their water systems. In
1990, Congress passed a law to require that gasoline be mixed with additives to
make it burn more cleanly. This
reformulated gasoline is used in areas that do not meet clean air
standards. In the Northeast, MTBE was
the most common additive. While it made
significant improvements to our air, we learned the hard way about the
devastating effects it can have on groundwater if gasoline storage tanks leak.
Let me briefly discuss the actions that the federal government has
taken to address underground storage tanks.
In 1984, Congress enacted a comprehensive program to address the problem
of leaking tanks. This was in reaction
to the discovery of groundwater contamination in different parts of the country
and its linkage to underground tanks.
In fact, Rhode Island played a leading
role in formulating that debate.
A 1983 60 Minutes report about leaking tanks in Canob Park in
Richmond increased the nation=s
awareness about this widespread problem.
The 1984 law imposed minimum federal requirements for leak detection
and prevention standards for underground tanks. In 1988, owners and operators of existing tank systems were given
ten years to upgrade, replace, or close tanks that didn=t meet minimum federal
requirements. As the deadline passed in
December, 1998, many underground storage tanks failed to meet the federal
standards to prevent spillage, overfilling, and corrosion.
As Ranking Member on the
Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics, Risk and Waste Management, I was concerned
about the potential problems regarding tanks.
To assess the situation, I asked the U.S. General Accounting Office to
examine compliance of tanks with federal requirements. Last May, GAO concluded that approximately
76,000 tanks have never been upgraded to meet minimum federal standards. In addition, GAO found that more than
200,000 tanks are not being operated and maintained properly. GAO cited infrequent tank inspections and
limited funding among the contributing factors.
In order to assist communities that
are grappling with these problems and to prevent such problems from
reoccurring, I introduced the bipartisan Underground Storage Tank Compliance
Act. It requires the inspection of all underground
storage tanks every two years and for the first time focuses on the training of
tank operators. It simply does not make
sense to install modern, protective equipment if the people who operate them do
so improperly. The bill also provides
the federal government and States with the tools necessary to ensure that all
parties are meeting federal standards.
In addition, the legislation emphasizes compliance of tanks owned by
federal, state, and local governments, and provides $200 million for cleanup of
sites contaminated by MTBE.
While my bill solely addresses the tank situation, there is a separate
effort ongoing in Congress, which I support, to permanently ban the use of MTBE
in gasoline. Last September, I voted
for a bill in the Environment Committee that would ban the use of MTBE, while
maintaining the clean air benefits that it has provided. My underground storage tank bill is
independent from that effort because, even if we get MTBE out of the gasoline,
we must still fix the tanks so that ordinary gasoline does not spoil our environment.
I am looking forward to the testimony of our witnesses. I am very grateful that the town has been
pro-active and willing to share its problems in order to promote
solutions. It is a model for solving
our problems, and I assure you that I will bring your experiences and advice
back to Washington as we continue to find answers to these pressing
questions. The Canob Park story in 1983
opened our eyes to the problem at the beginning, but the MTBE crisis in Pascoag
has taught us that our work is not done.