Spring Valley—Toxic Waste Contamination in the Nation’S Capital
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SPRING VALLEY—TOXIC WASTE CONTAMINATION IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JULY 27, 2001 Serial No. 107–42 Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house http://www.house.gov/reform U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 77–354 PDF WASHINGTON : 2002 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:28 Apr 18, 2002 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 C:\DOCS\77354.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1 COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM DAN BURTON, Indiana, Chairman BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York HENRY A. WAXMAN, California CONSTANCE A. MORELLA, Maryland TOM LANTOS, California CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut MAJOR R. OWENS, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania STEPHEN HORN, California PATSY T. MINK, Hawaii JOHN L. MICA, Florida CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York THOMAS M. DAVIS, Virginia ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, Washington, MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana DC JOE SCARBOROUGH, Florida ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland STEVEN C. LATOURETTE, Ohio DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio BOB BARR, Georgia ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, Illinois DAN MILLER, Florida DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois DOUG OSE, California JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts RON LEWIS, Kentucky JIM TURNER, Texas JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia THOMAS H. ALLEN, Maine TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois DAVE WELDON, Florida WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri CHRIS CANNON, Utah DIANE E. WATSON, California ADAM H. PUTNAM, Florida ——— ——— C.L. ‘‘BUTCH’’ OTTER, Idaho ——— EDWARD L. SCHROCK, Virginia BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont JOHN J. DUNCAN, Tennessee (Independent) KEVIN BINGER, Staff Director DANIEL R. MOLL, Deputy Staff Director JAMES C. WILSON, Chief Counsel ROBERT A. BRIGGS, Chief Clerk PHIL SCHILIRO, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CONSTANCE A. MORELLA, Maryland, Chairman TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, Washington, THOMAS M. DAVIS, Virginia, DC JOE SCARBOROUGH, Florida DIANE E. WATSON, California ——— ——— EX OFFICIO DAN BURTON, Indiana HENRY A. WAXMAN, California RUSSELL SMITH, Staff Director HOWARD DENNIS, Professional Staff Member MATTHEW BATT, Clerk JON BOUKER, Minority Counsel (II) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:28 Apr 18, 2002 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\DOCS\77354.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1 C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on July 27, 2001 ............................................................................... 1 Statement of: Ladner, Benjamin, president, American University; Lewis D. Walker, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army, Environment, Safety, and Occupational Health; Francis E. Reardon, Auditor General of the Army, U.S. Army Audit Agency, accompanied by Stephen Kiefer, Dep- uty Auditor General, U.S. Army Audit Agency; Raymond J. Fatz, Dep- uty Assistant Secretary, Army, Environment, Safety and Occupational Health, accompanied by Colonel Charles J. Fiala, Army Corps of Engi- neers ............................................................................................................... 130 Walks, Ivan C.A., M.D., chief health officer of the District of Columbia, accompanied by Theodore J. Gordon, chief operating officer, D.C. De- partment of Health; and Dr. Richard D. Albright, JD, MS, environ- mental specialist/ordnance & chemical weapons expert, D.C. Depart- ment of Health; Dr. Bailus Walker, Jr., chairman, District of Columbia Mayor’s Spring Valley Scientific Advisory Panel; Sarah Stowell Shapley, co-chair, Spring Valley Restoration Advisory Board; William C. Harrop, president, Spring Valley-Wesley Heights Citizens Associa- tion; and Edward J. Miller, Jr., president, W.C. and A.N. Miller Devel- opment Co. ..................................................................................................... 10 Williams, Rear Admiral Robert, Director, Division of Health Assessment and Consultation, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; and Thomas C. Voltaggio, Acting Regional Administrator, Environ- mental Protection Agency Region III .......................................................... 109 Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by: Davis, Hon. Thomas M., a Representative in Congress from the State of Virginia, prepared statement of .............................................................. 306 Fatz, Raymond J., Deputy Assistant Secretary, Army, Environment, Safe- ty and Occupational Health, prepared statement of .................................. 251 Fiala, Colonel Charles J., Army Corps of Engineers: Letter dated August 22, 2001 ................................................................... 298 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 260 Harrop, William C., president, Spring Valley-Wesley Heights Citizens Association, prepared statement of ............................................................. 34 Ladner, Benjamin, president, American University, prepared statement of ..................................................................................................................... 133 Miller, Edward J., Jr., president, W.C. and A.N. Miller Development Co., prepared statement of ........................................................................... 38 Morella, Hon. Constance A., a Representative in Congress from the State of Maryland, prepared statement of ............................................................ 4 Norton, Hon. Eleanor Holmes, a Representative in Congress from the District of Columbia: List of addresses ........................................................................................ 302 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 8 Reardon, Francis E., Auditor General of the Army, U.S. Army Audit Agency, prepared statement of .................................................................... 230 Shapley, Sarah Stowell, co-chair, Spring Valley Restoration Advisory Board, prepared statement of ...................................................................... 29 Voltaggio, Thomas C., Acting Regional Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency Region III, prepared statement of ................................ 118 Walker, Dr. Bailus, Jr., chairman, District of Columbia Mayor’s Spring Valley Scientific Advisory Panel, prepared statement of .......................... 12 Walker, Lewis D., former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army, Envi- ronment, Safety, and Occupational Health, prepared statement of ......... 228 (III) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:28 Apr 18, 2002 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\DOCS\77354.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1 IV Page Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by—Continued Walks, Ivan C.A., M.D., chief health officer of the District of Columbia, prepared statement of ................................................................................... 78 Williams, Rear Admiral Robert, Director, Division of Health Assessment and Consultation, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, prepared statement of ................................................................................... 112 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:28 Apr 18, 2002 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\DOCS\77354.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1 SPRING VALLEY—TOXIC WASTE CONTAMINATION IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2001 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:03 a.m., in room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Constance A. Morella (chairwoman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Morella, Platts, Norton, and Watson. Staff present: Russell Smith, staff director; Heea Vazirani-Fales, deputy staff director; Robert White, communications director; Mat- thew Batt, legislative assistant; Shalley Kim, staff assistant; How- ard Dennis, professional staff for representative davis; Jon Bouker, minority counsel; and Jean Gosa, minority assistant clerk. Mrs. MORELLA. Good morning. I’m going to call to order the Sub- committee on the District of Columbia for its hearing on toxic waste contamination in the Nation’s Capital. It is a pleasure to welcome you all, witnesses and interested par- ties, to the sixth hearing of the Subcommittee on the District of Co- lumbia in this 107th Congress. I want to recognize members of the subcommittee. We have, of course, the ranking member, who has been so valuable, the founda- tion of this subcommittee, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. Later we expect that we will have Mr. Platts of Pennsylvania, who will be joining us, and probably Mr. Tom Davis of Virginia. And we have a new member from California, Congresswoman Diane Wat- son, who replaced Julian Dixon, who was somebody who served very valiantly on the District of Columbia Subcommittee. I want to make special mention of our witnesses. They’re here because of their expertise and knowledge regarding the identifica- tion or remediation of contaminated sites in Spring Valley, or they are here because they have been affected in some way by the