Todd Tiahrt: “The community of Treece has been trying to bring this issue to resolution for years. In fact, it was over a decade ago…”

“The community of Treece has been trying to bring this issue to resolution for years. In fact, it was over a decade ago when it first came to my attention, and I had a staff member working on it for some time. I am pleased that the gentlewoman is carrying on the work of her predecessor, Congressman Jim Ryun, and other Kansas officials. Earlier this year, State Representative Gatewood came to my office and asked for some help with the Office of Surface Mining, and we still have the request pending from them as well. According to the estimates for the State of Kansas, it will cost approximately $8 million to conduct a buyout program, which is not a lot of money in the scheme of things. While we understand that the bill which we are debating today cannot address the buyout program, we both hope that the EPA will speed its approval of the funding to remove the chat and hope that other Federal resources will come to bear to help the people of Treece find relief through a similar buyout program. I am also hopeful that the OSM and the Army Corps of Engineers will also help the residents in their struggle to improve their communities.”