Joe Baca: “I want to thank Chairman Buck McKeon and Ranking Member Adam Smith for their efforts. I also want to thank Reps. Gary…”

“I want to thank Chairman Buck McKeon and Ranking Member Adam Smith for their efforts. I also want to thank Reps. Gary Miller, David Dreier, and Ken Calvert--and Senator Diane Feinstein for their support of this bipartisan amendment. My amendment directs the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct a study of water resources in the Rialto-Colton Basin in California. The USGS study would look at perch lorate contamination in the area's groundwater. Perchlorate is a rocket fuel additive that impairs thyroid function in humans--and has been found to be harmful to women and children. This contamination is the direct result of the area having been acquired by the U.S. Army in 1942--to develop an inspection, consolidation, and storage facility for weapons bound for the Port of Los Angeles. Having lived in Rialto for decades, I am very aware of the perchlorate problem we have in our drinking water. Currently the EPA is undertaking a $25 million dollar effort to clean up the contamination. But for the efforts of the EPA to be successful, we must first know the full scope of the problem. We can only gain this crucial information by conducting an extensive study--and my amendment would make this study a top priority for the USGS to expedite. This study is critical to the health and well-being of my constituents. The contamination at the Rialto site was measured at more than one thousand times the drinking-water standard for perchlorate, according to the EPA.…”