Political Quotes

“in 1992, Congress enacted the Federal Facilities Compliance Act, which requires Federal facilities to obey key environmental laws including the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and State hazardous waste laws. However, subsequent Federal court decisions threaten to undermine the important principle that Federal Government facilities must comply with the same environmental laws that govern the private sector. In fact, one court decision that covers the Hanford Nuclear Reservation would allow Hanford to poison the water, pollute the air and contaminate the soil for decades, and be immunized for any violations that occur before the Hanford cleanup is completed sometime in the next century. This court ruling allowed the interagency agreement among the Energy Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington Department of Ecology that governs the Hanford cleanup to be used as a shield to block an enforcement action against the Energy Department for violations of the Clean Water Act. The Energy Department's use of interagency agreement to bar enforcement of environmental laws not only undermines the Federal Facilities Compliance Act but also puts at risk the health of citizens who live downstream or downwind from Hanford, and near other Federal facilities around the country.”