The Enemy of My Enemy

TCE contamination in soil and groundwater seems to have garnered the attention of several representatives in Congress. According to the TCE Blog, it appears to have started with Rep. Sue Kelly (R, NY), responding to concerns of constituents living near the Hopewell Precision site. I can’t locate the letter right now (based on the chronology, it appears to have been written this month), but Rep. Kelly wrote EPA back in January about this issue, complaining about the inconsistency in health-based criteria for TCE across USEPA regions.

Several other legislators appear to have signed on to this issue. According to the TCE Blog, Barbara Boxer (D, CA) wrote to the National Academy of Sciences (TCE Blog has excerpts from her letter – a copy doesn’t appear on her web site). Others who, according to the TCE Blog, reportedly have signed Rep. Kelly’s letter include Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D, NY) , Jerald Nadler (D, NY), Dennis Kucinich (D, OH), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D, TX) (nothing yet on their web sites about TCE), Maurice Hinchey (D, NY), and Rep. Katherine Harris (R, FL).

Katherine Harris? Yeah, that Katherine Harris, remember? Apparently she has constituents living near a contaminated site undergoing voluntary action under the oversight of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and they aren’t satisfied with the progress of the work. So, as a good legislator does, she’s helping them out.

I’m glad to see this kind of constituent services by our representatives, but the conventional wisdom would have had her kind of Republican supporting a strong economy, healthy business climate, regulatory relief, and “sound science”, over hazardous waste cleanup, and telling her constituents to suck it in and get over it. Wonders never cease.

Hey, lefty political bloggers, come and get it. This is more your territory than mine.