Jon L. Christensen: “last year the city of Gretna, NE, a small town in my district in the eastern part of Nebraska, population a couple…”

“last year the city of Gretna, NE, a small town in my district in the eastern part of Nebraska, population a couple thousand, was ordered by the EPA to spend $12,000 above and beyond their normal costs of $2,000 for additional testing to determine if there were any synthetic compounds in their drinking water. Mr. Speaker, the EPA qualifying limits for synthetic compounds were set so low that one person would have to consume hundreds of thousands of gallons of water in order to show any adverse effect. The city of Gretna passed with flying colors, but if, by chance, one well had failed the test, the Gretna taxpayers would have faced over $500,000 in additional costs. The entire annual operating budget for the Gretna water treatment facility is only $100,000. To mandate unnecessary costs would have bankrupt and closed the only water treatment facility that Gretna has. Mr. Speaker, the EPA is a prime example of a big government gone bad. We must protect the taxpayers from these types of unfunded mandates before we break the backs of States, municipalities, and the taxpayers across this country.”