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Clean Water & the Environment:

Congresswoman Grace F. Napolitano continues her work as the Chair of the House Water and Power Subcommittee of the Resources Committee. Securing a safe and reliable water supply for southern California has always been one of Napolitano’s top priorities. Without it, families and businesses cannot thrive. Below are some of the key projects she will be working on this year:

Groundwater Cleanup: Congresswoman Napolitano will continue to urge the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to hold polluters responsible and require them to provide the funds necessary to restore clean groundwater. Contamination from perchlorate, volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) and other chemicals remains a problem in local drinking water, causing many cities to shut down wells and install very expensive equipment to remove contaminants. The Congresswoman will continue to seek federal funding for cleanup. Napolitano will also oppose the President’s proposed budget cuts to the EPA, which would impair EPA’s ability to enforce our clean water laws.

CALFED Bay-Delta Program: As Chair of the House Water and Power Subcommittee, Congresswoman Napolitano will focus on securing federal funding for CALFED in addition to continuing Congressional oversight of the program. A key component of the CALFED program is its Water Use Efficiency component, which helps expand Southern California’s popular and effective water recycling and desalination projects and the creation of more opportunities to implement innovative technologies to protect and preserve a clean, stable water supply for Southern California.

MOAB: Since 1999, Congresswoman Napolitano worked to ensure that the a 10 ½ ton pile of uranium waste sited 750 feet adjacent to the Colorado River near the town of Moab, Utah be transferred to the Department of Energy for remediation and removal to an off river site. Now that the Department of Energy has finalized its preferred alternative plan in its final environmental impact statement to transport the uranium waste to the Crescent Junction site, 31 miles north of Moab, far from any streams or rivers, Napolitano will work with other Colorado River delegation Members to secure annual funding for Department of Energy to carry out its cleanup work. The uranium mine tailings causing the pollution must be removed. The uranium tailings pile is the waste byproduct of 30 years of uranium mining near Moab. Since mining ended in 1984, the pile has remained just 750 feet away from the Colorado River, leaching into it thousands of gallons of uranium waste material each day. The river is the source of drinking water for 25 million Americans in California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. Southern California receives a third of its drinking water from the Colorado River.

 

Related News:

January 17, 2009– Cities Hope for Stimulus Boost

January 6, 2009– Dreier reintroduces legislation for perchlorate cleanup

Water Rep. Napolitano’s Statement on Passage of Omnibus Public Lands Act (3/25/2009)

Water Rep. Napolitano Honored by American Water Works Association (3/24/2009)

Water Rep. Napolitano Re-Appointed as Chairwoman of the Water & Power Subcommittee (1/28/2009)

Water Rep. Napolitano Congratulates Ken Salazar on his Confirmation as Secretary of the Interior (1/21/2009)

Water Rep. Napolitano Votes for Stimulus Package, Investment in Water Infrastructure (9/26/2008)