Date: 1981-09-22
Speaker: JAMES K. COYNE (republican)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I am compelled to broach this unpleasant subject because the sewage disposal plan recently proposed by the District of Columbia may adversely affect my constituents. Just 2 weeks ago. I was abruptly informed by a newspaper reporter that the District of Columbia had entered Into a tentative agreement to transport some 500 tons of bludge every day to GROWS landfill In Falls Township. Pa.-a landfill that is situated In close proximity to the Delaware River. the main source of drinking water for millions of people in the greater Philadelphia area. This is the only operating landfill in the eighth Congressional District of Pennsylvania. This proposal not only raises serious questions environmentally. it also raises questions of fiscal responsibility and threatens the public safety of the people of Pennsylvanias Eighth Congression al District. And beyond that. this hasty proposal ultimately does not provide a meaningful answer to the questions facing the people of the District of Columbia. Mr. Chairman. this proposal is... in my view. a classic example of shortsighted. lastminute decisionmaking. It provides a shortterm solution for the District of Columbia but creates a longterm problem for the people of my District. That problem. with which the District of Columbia Is only too familiar. Is the regrettable fact that there is only so much landfill area to go around. The reason the District of Columbia Is in this curent crisis Is because it has exhausted the landfill sites that had previously been available to It. The Eighth Congresional District does not want to find Itself facing a simitlar situation a few years down the road. Currently. GROWS landfill handles somewhere between 100 and 150 tons of sludge per day from various sources primarily in suburban Philadelphia. The additional influx of sewage from the District of Columbia will tripleor perhaps quadruplethe amount of sludge being depolited into the GROWS landfill. Even the most optomistic projection. however. predicts that the GROWS landfill each day. Estimates vary as to the lifespan of the GROWS landfill will be exhausted within 8 short years. Mr. Chairman. perhaps a few statistics would help place this issue In perspective for my colleagues. The District of Columbia plans to truck 500 tons of sludge each day Into my district. That adds up to over 200.000 tons of sluge over the 15month duration of the proposed contract with GROWS. Shipping 500 tons of sludge on a 175mile oneway trip Is an expensive proposition. Mr. Chairman. It has been estimated that the transportation costs alone over the next 15 months will cost a staggering $25 a tonor some $4.5 milion over the next 15 months. A minimum of 20 to 25 21ton trucks will be required to haul this extraordinary amount of sludge. contributing to the congestion and deterioration of the local roads and highways. Moreover. these wastes will be hauled every day through the cities of Washington. D.C.. Baltimore. Wilmington. and Philadelphiaone of the most heavily populated corridors in the country. Surely a less expensive and hazardous method of disposal can be found. Mr. Chairman. I would like to emphasize that I am not alone in my opposition to this extravagent proposal. In response to the public outcry. the supervisors of Falls Township have sent a telegram to the Department of Environmental Resources of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urging them to deny GROWS landfill permission to implement this plan. and requesting that a public forum be provided. 1. too. have petitioned DER to reject. the GROWS proposal until certain determinations have been made. In response to the objections raised by myself and others. DER has requested that GROWS provide Information on the environmental impact of this proposal. as well as a detailed analysis of the sludge content. Furthermore. DER has urged the District of Columbia -to explore alternative methods of disposal. Mr. Chairman. I sympathize with the plight of the District of Columbia. Yet. I do not believe that running roughshod over the citizens of the Eighth Congressional District provides an equitable solution for the problem of sewage disposal. I believe that the taxpayers of this country should be assured that this Is the most efficient and effective plan available. For this reason. I request a 60day delay In the Implementation of this plan In order to give the orgainizations involved in the proposal time to adequately answer the questions that have been submitted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and to give Pennsylvania time to effectively evaluate those answers and make an informed decision on the soundness of this proposal. My amendment does not preclude the eventual use of these funds or the disposal of this sludge but it provides some assurance to the people of the Eighth Congressional District that they are not the victims of a capricious and hastily conceived scheme. Mr. Chairman. as a freshman Congressman I had hoped to bring Washington closer to my constituencybut truckloads of sewage sludge was not what I had In mind. Mr. Chairman. I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. DixoN) for his cooperation and I thank the rankIng minority member. the gentleman from Pennsylvania .