I am honored that you have invited me to speak to you today. I am also honored to be representing my community and am deeply grateful to my neighbors for funding my trip here.
I have come to voice my strong support for S. 1763, the EPA Ombudsman Reauthorization Act. I am convinced that continued funding and independence of the EPA National Ombudsman Office is the only way to ensure that citizens and communities across our country have a voice in the Superfund process and in decisions which directly affect them, their families and the environment. I have also come to share my thoughts with you about my community's experience with the EPA National Ombudsman, Robert Martin.
I will do my best to tell my and my community's story in the time I have been given but if you have any questions later, please call me and if I can't answer them, I'll be happy to put you in touch with one of my neighbors who can.
By the time Sen. Allard had asked EPA Ombudsman Robert Martin to help our community in the spring of 1999, I personally had been in a war with Region 8 EPA for 12 years. I have been given misinformation (the EPA FOIA officer wrote me a letter in response to a request I made in 1987 saying that there were "no NPL sites in my zip code," when in fact, Shattuck had the same zip code as me and had been placed on the NPL list 5-7 years before), mistakes had been made and there was no interest in correcting them. When I pointed out to EPA that a flood plain map used to determine that the site was not in danger of flooding actually showed water running uphill, they seemed unconcerned and did not offer any further explanation even though the community wanted new research done. There were constant contradictions in the information being given to the community. At one point, the Project Manager told us in a community meeting not to eat the fruits and vegetables in our gardens and then later, without doing any further research studies, said it was safe to eat them. Our State Health Department and the EPA sent us a proposed plan with a preferred remedy to "excavate and remove" being the "preferred plan" and we were told that this was the only remedy to ensure the health and safety of the community. Then, after closed meetings with the EPA, state health officials and the PRP, a ROD was signed ordering the company to treat, stabilize and bury the radioactive soil in our neighborhood. They did this without coming back to the community to tell us that they had changed their minds. When we asked to see documents and records of meetings that would explain to us why they changed their minds, we found that the documents were now classified and kept from public scrutiny.
I was suspicious, I was exhausted, my husband had died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack the year before and I was living with unspeakable fears that the health problems my son was having were a result of radium contamination. I felt assaulted by the government I had been raised to trust as supposedly working to ensure every citizen's right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." I had become like a citizen in one of "those other countries" where people can never relax and go to bed at night without fear that at any moment, their government would do something or make some decision without their input which could possible harm or even kill them and their families. I did not once feel heard; I did not feel seen. I felt completely disregarded as if I were invisible. I wanted to take my son and move out of the beautiful passive solar home that my late husband had designed and built for us but even that thought brought fear. I could not think of trying to sell our home without disclosing to a buyer that somehow, our government had allowed a rich and powerful company to bury radioactive toxic waste in the middle of our lovely neighborhood. My next fear was that I might not be able to find a new home that wasn't also potentially affected by some other toxic waste. I could ask, like I did last time, but after my experience of receive false information, how could I ever be sure?
The EPA Ombudsman first got involved in this issue approximately 10 years after the community began dealing with it. The first thing that he did was to listen to us. He and his small staff came and they listened. They placed no restrictions, no time limits and no agendas on their listening. Bob Martin, the EPA Ombudsman, listened and listened. He listened to our pain, he listened to our anger, he listened to our fears, he listened to our frustration and he listened to our disillusionment with our federal government, the EPA. He also listened to our good ideas and to the wisdom we shared about our community and what we knew about our own environment - wisdom seldom tapped into by the EPA because the system had been structured to exclude community input and place EPA technical scientists addressing the concerns of the money oriented businesses responsible for polluting and/or cleaning it up. He listened with respect and he listened for as long as we wanted to talk. Then he promised to uncover the facts for us.
He began to meet with EPA Region 8 staff and began working with Senator Allard and this very Senate Committee to release the many documents which had been hidden from us. He then began planning for and scheduled public hearings.
After Mr. Martin's office got involved, EPA Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response Tim Fields finally came to our community and he also started to listen. I believed that he genuinely wanted to find out what problems there were to be solved. He treated me with respect and I believe genuinely wanted to help solve the problems we were facing. He set up a series of Dialogue Meetings with all the stakeholders concerned with the Shattuck site. I felt that these Dialogue Meetings were productive and helped me to feel as if I was finally getting a chance to work with my government, but there was one big difference. The meetings were closed and even though, this time, the community had a seat at the table, and were discussing possible solutions to the problems with each other, we could not take much of that information out into the rest of our community.
It was not until Mr. Martin's office, Sen. Allard and other elected officials convened public hearings in the community with the press present, that I finally felt true democracy was taking place and I was able to regain at least a little of the faith in my government that I had lost.
While I understand that it is not the responsibility of this particular Senate Committee, I believe that funding the EPA Ombudsman Office is the best use of our taxpayer dollars. I have mentioned many times at all of these meetings how outraged I have been at the waste of the taxpayer dollars and how much these dollars seem to have been used in our own community to make mistakes and then to cover up mistakes. We pay the city attorney and the Mayor to fight with the company and the EPA, the EPA is represented by the Department of Justice attorneys, who we pay - - and the lawsuits are brought before the federal judges, who we also pay. Many times I have advocated for us to stay home and sue ourselves without all the middle men.
I believe that increased funding and continued authorization would allow communities to ask for help from the Ombudsman before taxpayer dollars were thrown away on lawsuits.
Involving the community from the beginning of the process - - and actually listening to our suggestions - - would bring wisdom to the government process from the governed which would not only be good for all concerned from a spiritual and democratic perspective, but also from a monetary and practical one.
When problems arise and mistakes are made, and even when mistakes are covered up, it is only by exposing them to the light of day that we have any hope of correcting them. The Ombudsman process is crucial for exposing the truth to the light of day for the citizens of this nation and the truth is the only way that we can remain free and truly self governed.
Thank you Mr. Chairman and members of this committee. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.