Frank Lautenberg: “I do not object to the Senator's second degree amendment. If it is passed into law, DOE is going to have to report to…”

“I do not object to the Senator's second degree amendment. If it is passed into law, DOE is going to have to report to Congress next year on the number of sites of this category, the FUSRAP program, on the cost of cleanup, the numbers of sites where private parties are involved, and on the progress DOE has made in pursuing them for a cleanup costs. We want to do these sort of things. This reporting requirement is certainly a step in the right direction. DOE at last will be required to step up its efforts to make the private sector pay for the pollution it caused. It's only fair. The private sector profited enormously from participating in DOE's efforts to build the Nation's nuclear arsenal. The company, however, should not escape liability for the mess they created as they did that. These former DOE sites, Department of Energy sites, contain some of the Nation's most dangerous and pernicious pollution problems. Their radioactive legacy--it is incredible--will endure for thousands if not millions of years. This stuff, unfortunately, creates the energy supply as well as the hazard for this period of time. DOE has been shamefully slow and their reluctance to bring W.R. Grace into the cleanup efforts is inexplicable. In fact, DOE did not begin to go after Grace as a responsible party until I started urging them to do so, now over 2 years ago.”