{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2008-12-11-pt1-PgS10901-3", "2008-12-11", 110, 2, null, null, "CLEANUP OF NUCLEAR MISSILE SITE IN CHEYENNE, WYOMING", "SENATE", "SENATE", "ALLOTHER", "S10901", "S10901", "[{\"name\": \"John Barrasso\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "154 Cong. Rec. S10901", "Congressional Record, Volume 154 Issue 186 (Thursday, December 11, 2008)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 186 (Thursday, December 11, 2008)]\n[Senate]\n[Page S10901]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n          CLEANUP OF NUCLEAR MISSILE SITE IN CHEYENNE, WYOMING\n\n  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I stand here today holding a 500-page\nreport, a report that was sent to my office yesterday by the Army Corps\nof Engineers. I will not read the whole report, I am happy to say, but\nI want to call attention to the Senate and to the country, as well as\nto the people of Wyoming, what is contained within this report.\n  This report, at a cost of who knows how many taxpayer dollars, says\nsomething I have known and the people of Wyoming have known to be true.\nIt says the Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for the\ncontamination of the water wells of the city of Cheyenne. Now, let me\nclarify. The report does not actually say the words ``we are\nresponsible.'' Washington could never admit its faults so directly. No.\nInstead, the report states that other potential sources of\ncontamination, other potential sources of this trichloroethylene--the\ncontaminant, the chemical that is in our city's wells--it says that\nother potential sources ``may be limited.'' I guess that is\nWashington's way of saying: It was us.\n  The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and the city of\nCheyenne found evidence of trichloroethylene in the water supply in\n1998--10 years ago. The culprit is a dormant Cold War-era nuclear\nmissile area. It is a missile site and has been there for a long time.\nThe Army Corps of Engineers admits that over 1,800 gallons of this\ncontaminant, TCE, was dumped at the Atlas 4 nuclear missile site each\nyear--each year--of the operation of the missile site, beginning in the\nmid-1960s.\n  Well, the discharge of TCE the Army Corps admits to is a mere 1\nmile--1 mile--from the water wells of the city of Cheyenne. The Wyoming\nDepartment of Environmental Quality has claimed there is one giant\nplume of TCE emanating from the former nuclear missile site, working\nits way into and then contaminating the city's water wells. The missile\nsite is currently being cleaned up under the Superfund laws by the Army\nCorps of Engineers. Unfortunately, the Army Corps only admits\nculpability for TCE contamination directly emanating from the nuclear\nmissile site. They allege that there is actually a gap between the\nplume they admit to at the nuclear missile site and the one around the\ncity's water wells--1 mile apart.\n  Now, you might think it odd that the Department of Defense, given the\nvolume of this chemical that has been dumped year after year in rural\nWyoming, would not admit that it was the responsible party for\ncontaminating the city's wells. That would just make sense. They would\nsay: Yes, we dumped it here. It is right here, a mile away in the\nwells. It is our fault. No. It would just make sense to us that they\nwould admit it. But, in fact, the Army Corps over the last few years\nhas looked to blame almost anyone else, has looked to blame others than\nto say they are responsible for contaminating the city's wells. Well,\nsuch claims have included that there might have been a train derailment\nand the train might have been carrying TCE into the area. They said it\nmight have been from a nearby oil rig, it might have been from a local\nshooting range. The Army Corps said: Anybody but us.\n  I became involved in this issue after I felt the city of Cheyenne and\nthe Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality were being ignored by\nWashington. As ranking member of the Superfund and Environmental Health\nSubcommittee, I pushed for testing of the ground in that 1-mile area\nbetween the nuclear missile site and the water wells of the city of\nCheyenne. The Army Corps finally agreed to do the testing and said it\nwould also look into the historical use of this chemical in the\nCheyenne area to make sure there was not another responsible party for\nthe contamination.\n  The final results--all 500 pages--were finally released this week. To\nno one's surprise who lives in Wyoming, to no one's surprise who is\nfamiliar with this issue, to no one's surprise but the Army Corps of\nEngineers, the contaminating chemical, TCE, was found in the ground\nbetween the nuclear missile site and the city's water wells, right\nwhere we said it would be. The report also revealed they found no other\npublic records of TCE use in the Cheyenne area for any other reason. It\njust makes sense to us, and the cause is clear. Given these findings,\nit is time for the Army Corps to provide the funding the city needs to\nmanage and to complete the current cleanup efforts.\n  Now, let me be clear. The city of Cheyenne's water is safe. Untold\nthousands of taxpayer dollars have gone to keep TCE out of the water\nsupply. The city of Cheyenne and the State of Wyoming have implemented\nthe effective procedures to protect the folks in Cheyenne. Those\nefforts have been completely successful. But the Army Corps of\nEngineers and the U.S. Government have the responsibility to fund the\ncleanup. They have responsibility to fix the problem, and this report\nsays it is so. It is time to do so.\n  Madam President, I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2008-12-11-pt1-PgS10901-3"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7848380375653505, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}