(Washington D.C.)- Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Representative Sander Levin (D-Royal Oak) announced the results of a new study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that identified a number of serious concerns about the accuracy of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) data concerning oil and chemical spills in the St. Clair River/Lake St. Clair/Detroit River corridor as well as deficiencies in the EPA's procedures to prevent and respond to spills. 

The three lawmakers asked GAO to investigate how many oil and hazardous chemical spills greater than 50 gallons had occurred within the corridor from 1994 to 2004, the processes used for notification of spills, and the extent of EPA and Coast Guard spill prevention efforts and enforcement activities.

A key finding of the GAO report released today is that EPA's spill data are unreliable.  The GAO report noted that EPA "does not remove all duplicate spill reports, or update its data after investigating spills" and so, unlike the Canadian spill data, the U.S. data contain multiple reports of the same spill.  As a result, GAO concluded "EPA's spill data set is of limited use."  According to the flawed data available, there were 991 spill reports from the U.S. side of the corridor while Canadian authorities reported only 157 spills.  However, GAO noted that "these reports do not accurately portray the actual number or volume of spills."

"This GAO report demonstrates that the Environmental Protection Agency simply doesn't have the accurate data needed to assess the impact and severity of spills in the St. Clair - Detroit River corridor," Sen. Levin said.  "EPA needs to address this crucial first step of collecting reliable data and move to correct the other shortcomings described in the GAO report."

"The quality of our waterways is critical to Michigan's economic viability and quality of life for our families," said Sen. Stabenow.   "This GAO study reveals serious issues that must be addressed by the Environmental Protection Agency in order to respond to and prevent oil and chemical spills in this vital waterway."

Rep. Levin said, "The GAO report revealed serious problems with EPA's spill prevention efforts.  EPA doesn't even have a clear idea of what specific facilities it is supposed to be inspecting under its spill prevention program.  EPA needs to bring more resources to bear on spill investigations, spill prevention inspections, and basic record keeping." 

GAO also found that spill notification on both sides of the corridor is largely dependent upon reporting by parties responsible for the spill, and that many spills likely go unreported by responsible parties.  The report noted that while EPA has the authority to address spill prevention for both oil and hazardous chemicals, the EPA Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) program address only oil spills.  Even then, the GAO report noted, "EPA is uncertain of which specific facilities are subject to regulation under its spill prevention program."

Further, EPA conducts only a handful of inspections within the corridor every year.  The report indicated that EPA relies on only three inspectors to conduct all inspection and compliance activities for six states.  GAO stated that "according to [EPA] officials, with current SPCC resource constraints, they could only inspect facilities once every 500 years or more."  The report noted that the EPA inspections that had occurred often disclosed "significant and numerous spill prevention deficiencies," yet EPA issued only four fines from 1994 to 2004.

In a letter sent today to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, Senators Levin and Stabenow and Congressman Levin wrote, "The situation described in the GAO report is simply not acceptable.  There is a longstanding problem with oil and chemical spills in the corridor, but no one is keeping track of the number of spills or their severity.  Further, the regulated facilities within the corridor are largely left to their own devices when it comes to reporting spills and implementing spill control and prevention measures."

The lawmakers called on EPA to immediately gather information on which facilities are currently regulated under its current spill prevention program.  They also urged EPA to undertake a rulemaking to address spill prevention from hazardous substances.  Currently, EPA's spill prevention program addresses only oil.  Finally, they called on EPA to significantly increase funding for inspection and compliance activities within the corridor.

The lawmakers complimented Michigan for investing over $1 million to install spill detection monitoring systems that will be operational in the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers in 2007.  These systems are based on the successful Ohio River Valley Sanitation Commission's (ORSANCO) spill detection and notification system that was established in 1978 to protect drinking water intakes on the Ohio River from chemical contamination. 

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To read the GAO report, "Clean Water: Better Information and Targeted Prevention Efforts Could Enhance Spill Management in the St. Clair-Detroit River Corridor," go to "Reports and Testimony" at the GAO website, http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/repandtest.html.  The report will be posted between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. EDT today.  

The text of the lawmakers' letter to the EPA follows:

July 7, 2006

Stephen L. Johnson
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Administrator Johnson:

We are writing to bring to your attention a new study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that raises serious concerns about the uncertainties of data concerning oil and chemical spills in the St. Clair River/Lake St. Clair/Detroit River corridor as well as deficiencies in the EPA's procedures to prevent and respond to spills within the corridor. 

The St. Clair River/Lake St. Clair/Detroit River corridor is one of the main connecting channels of the Great Lakes System.  The 98-mile corridor is part of the boundary between the United States and Canada and more than 5 million people receive their drinking water from these bodies of water.  Approximately 500 industrial facilities, including chemical companies, oil refineries and power plants, are located within the corridor. 

For many years, there have been chronic oil and hazardous chemical spills within the corridor.  Following a number of severe spills in 2003 and 2004, we requested the Comptroller General to investigate how many oil and hazardous chemical spills greater than 50 gallons had occurred within the corridor from 1994 to 2004, and how accurately reported spills reflect the extent of actual spills.  We also asked GAO to examine the extent of EPA's and the Coast Guard's spill prevention efforts and enforcement activities.

The GAO study revealed a number of serious problems:

-- The available spill data are unreliable.  Between 1994 and 2004, GAO documented 991 spill reports from the U.S. side of the corridor, with an additional 157 spill reports from Canada.  However, GAO underscored that "these reports do not accurately portray the actual number or volume of spills."  Moreover, with regard to the number of U.S. spills, GAO noted that "EPA Region 5 does not remove all duplicate spill reports, or update its data after investigating spills." Unlike the Canadian spill data, the U.S. data contain multiple reports of the same spill.  As a result, GAO concludes that "EPA's spill data set is of limited use."
 
-- GAO found that spill notification is largely dependent upon reporting by parties responsible for the spill, but that many spills go unreported by responsible parties.  The study found that a full 67 percent of the spills reported in the corridor were released from an unknown source.  The report noted that U.S. and Canadian officials suggested that responsible parties "may not be aware of the spills, may not understand the reporting requirements, or that they may not want to receive 'bad press'  or be forced to pay the costs of the cleanup."
 
-- GAO noted that while EPA has the authority to address spill prevention for both oil and hazardous substances, its Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) program addresses only oil spills.  Further, GAO reported that "EPA is uncertain of which specific facilities are subject to regulation under its spill prevention program."  
 
-- The GAO report indicated that EPA conducts only a handful of inspections of regulated facilities within the corridor each year.  The report noted that EPA relies on roughly three SPCC inspectors to conduct all plan reviews and provide all compliance assistance for covered facilities in Michigan and five other states.  GAO noted further that "according to [EPA] officials, with current SPCC resource constraints, they could only inspect facilities once every 500 years or more." 
 
-- The report indicated that the inspections that have been conducted within the corridor between 1994 and 2004 often "disclosed significant and numerous spill prevention deficiencies," yet EPA issued only four fines during that eleven-year period.  

 The situation described in the GAO report is simply not acceptable.  There is a longstanding problem with oil and chemical spills in the corridor, but no one is keeping track of the number of spills or their severity.  Further, the regulated facilities within the corridor are largely left to their own devices when it comes to reporting spills and implementing spill control and prevention measures.
 
 The State of Michigan is to be commended for investing over $1 million to install spill detection monitoring systems that will be operational in the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers in 2007.  These monitoring systems will not only provide notice and protection for drinking water intakes, but will serve as a deterrent to spills because monitoring information can be used in enforcement actions. 
 
 The best way to reduce the number of spills is to prevent them before they happen in the first place.  Therefore, we recommend a number of steps to address the shortcomings outlined in the GAO report.
 
1) EPA should immediately gather information on which facilities are currently regulated under its spill prevention program.  We note that EPA has previously identified at least 59 facilities within the corridor that are required to meet SPCC requirements.  There is an obvious need to identify the entire universe of covered facilities.
 
2) EPA should undertake a rulemaking to address spill prevention for hazardous substances within the corridor.  Currently, EPA's spill prevention program addresses only oil.  As noted above, Congress has previously called for regulations to prevent discharges of both oil and hazardous substances; indeed, EPA proposed hazardous spill prevention regulations in the late 1970s, but they were never finalized.  The fact is that many of the most serious spills that have been reported within the corridor are hazardous substances. 
 
3) Additional resources must be brought to bear to investigate spills and inspect currently covered facilities within the corridor.  We urge you in the strongest terms to include a significant increase in funding for inspection and compliance activities in the Administration's next budget request to Congress.  In the meantime, we ask you to focus existing resources and step up inspection of facilities with the potential for serious future spills within the corridor.
 
 We appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to your response.
 
 Sincerely,
 
Senator Carl Levin
Senator Debbie Stabenow
Representative Sander Levin
 

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