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<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/212191p-182755c.html" eudora="autourl">http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/212191p-182755c.html<br>
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Time to target Vieques for Superfund cleanup <br>
<br>
by Albor Ruiz<br>
New York Daily News <br>
<br>
Finally, there seems to be some concrete hope that the Navy will <br>
fulfill its commitment to the people of Vieques and clean up the <br>
environmental mess that it left behind after 60 years of using the <br>
island for target practice. <br>
It is the least Washington can do for the long-suffering Viequenses.
<br><br>
After years of protests, the Navy finally pulled out of Vieques on <br>
May 1, 2003, but a lot of problems built up over six decades. <br><br>
Peace and fairness for the almost 10,000 U.S. citizens who live on <br>
the 55-square-mile island cannot be accomplished just by not bombing
<br>
it into oblivion any more. <br><br>
"If they do not eliminate the military toxins accumulated over six
<br>
decades of bombing, the Navy will continue to kill our people for a
<br>
long time to come," said Ismael Guadalupe, a spokesman for the
<br>
Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, one of the main
<br>
groups that opposed the Navy's presence. <br><br>
"There hasn't been any cleaning," Guadalupe said recently from
the <br>
committee's office in Vieques. <br><br>
Which is unconscionable. After all, Vieques has the highest cancer <br>
mortality rate among Puerto Rico's 78 municipalities. Clearly, this
<br>
is directly linked to the fact that the Navy left behind an <br>
unfortunate legacy of poisonous chemicals, toxic waste, illness, <br>
poverty and God knows how much unexploded ammunition sprinkled on the
<br>
island's beautiful beaches. Obviously a lot needs to be done. <br><br>
In May, a group of concerned Vieques residents visited several <br>
members of Congress in Washington to ask for their support to have <br>
their island decontaminated. <br><br>
One of the people they spoke to was House Democratic leader Nancy <br>
Pelosi, who three days ago faxed a letter to the federal Office of <br>
Management and Budget - signed by her and 14 other Democratic members
<br>
of Congress. In the letter, they asked that the former training sites
<br>
of Vieques be included in the Superfund list of environmental cleanup
<br>
locations without further delay. <br><br>
'We expect a positive response soon," said Federico de Jesús, a
press <br>
officer at Pelosi's office. "[Puerto Rico] Gov. Sila Calderón met
<br>
with the EPA people in June of last year, and the agency made a <br>
positive recommendation. Yet 13 months have gone by, and no action <br>
has been taken." <br><br>
The Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner in Washington, Aníbal
Acevedo-<br>
Vilá, signed the letter, as did New York Reps. José Serrano, Nydia <br>
Velázquez, Charles Rangel, Joseph Crowley and Elliot Engel. <br><br>
The Superfund program was established by Congress in 1980 to locate,
<br>
investigate and clean up the worst-contaminated sites nationwide. The
<br>
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administers the program in <br>
cooperation with individual states. <br><br>
A statement issued Pelosi's office called on the administration to <br>
expedite the inclusion of Vieques in the Superfund list "for the
<br>
desperately needed and longoverdue decontamination." <br><br>
"While we are pleased that the Navy ended their bombing exercises
<br>
last year," the letter said, "until the necessary cleanup takes
<br>
place, the risks for health and human safety remain." <br><br>
Erik Lausten, legislative director for the resident commissioner's <br>
office in Washington, also is optimistic. <br><br>
"We are hopeful that there will be a positive response soon,"
he <br>
said. <br><br>
So are the people of Vieques. Their future depends on it. <br><br>
Originally published on July 15, 2004 <br>
<br><br>
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