Nydia M. Velazquez: “I rise in support of important language in Chairman Oberstar's manager's amendment to H.R. 2830, the Coast Guard…”

“I rise in support of important language in Chairman Oberstar's manager's amendment to H.R. 2830, the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act. This amendment is critical for my constituents who live in the Greenpoint area in Brooklyn. I want to thank Chairman Oberstar and others on the Committee who saw the need for this language, and were willing to act on it. This important amendment directs the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a follow up study on the Newtown Creek oil spill. The new EPA study builds upon my earlier effort with my distinguished colleague, Mr. Weiner, to get the EPA to issue a comprehensive report on the oil spill. That earlier report by the EPA, issued last fall, was an important step forward but it raised as many questions as it answered. Mr. Chairman, it is appropriate that we are considering this issue on a Coast Guard bill. It was the Coast Guard, nearly 30 years ago, that discovered the Newtown Creek oil spill in Greenpoint. The spill is massive, and scientists lack accurate measurements of the scope and impact of the whole of the plume. That's why we need a full site characterization of the Creek, so we know just what is in, around and underneath the Creek bed. The basic condition of the Creek was not comprehensively addressed in the earlier report. It's past time for a full site characterization of Newtown Creek. The goal not merely oil plume containment, but plume removal.”