By: Michael Waters
The Outline – 7/23/2018“Last month, ICE transferred 1,000 undocumented immigrants to the Victorville Federal Correctional Complex in Southern California. FCI Victorville is built on a Superfund site, and according to the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Board, industrial solvents like trichloroethylene, pesticides like dieldrin and aldrin, and chemicals from jet fuel have contaminated the region’s water supply.
FCI Victorville was constructed on the now-defunct George Air Force Base, which since the Cold War was tasked with preparing for a Soviet attack on the Pacific Coast. The base became a hub of nuclear missiles and other radioactive substances, many of which were stored in barrels in the land.
The water board, which has been pushing for extensive soil testing in the area, wrote that the water could be dangerous to those who consumed it. According to Truthout, “Repeated exposure to small quantities of chlorinated pesticides can build up in the human system. In large quantities, they can cause chronic health problems, including Parkinson’s disease, breast cancer and damage to the immune, reproductive and nervous systems.”
In 1979, Chief of Environmental Officer John R. Sabol, who conducted environmental tests for the U.S. Air Force, found that 18 to 20 55-gallon drums of radioactive material — the size of a large propane tank — had been dumped at the site. That’s a quarter mile upstream of the wells used at the George Air Force Base, and according to Frank Vera, a serviceman who now runs a website dedicated to exposing the toxicity of the Victorville site, the radioactive waste likely trickled directly into them. …
https://theoutline.com/post/5410/toxic-prisons-fayette-tacoma-contaminated
The Air Force transferred the property to the Federal Bureau of Prisons circumvent the reporting requirements of the Superfund Act, CERCLA §120(h).
CERCLA §120(h)
§120(h) PROPERTY TRANSFERRED BY FEDERAL AGENCIES —
(1) NOTICE — After the last day of the 6-month period beginning on the effective date of regulations under paragraph (2) of this subsection, whenever any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States enters into any contract for the sale or other transfer of real property which is owned by the United States and on which any hazardous substance was stored for one year or more, known to have been released, or disposed of, the head of such department, agency, or instrumentality shall include in such contract notice of the type and quantity of such hazardous substance and notice of the time at which such storage, release, or disposal took place, to the extent such information is available on the basis of a complete search of agency files.
(2) FORM OF NOTICE; REGULATIONS — Notice under this subsection shall be provided in such form and manner as may be provided in regulations promulgated by the Administrator. As promptly as practicable after the enactment of this subsection but not later than 18 months after the date of such enactment, and after consultation with the Administrator of the General Services Administration, the Administrator shall promulgate regulations regarding the notice required to be provided under this subsection. (3) CONTENTS OF CERTAIN DEEDS — After the last day of the 6-month period beginning on the effective date of regulations under paragraph (2) of this subsection, in the case of any real property owned by the United States on which any hazardous substance was stored for one year or more, known to have been released, or disposed of, each deed entered into for the transfer of such property by the United States to any other person or entity shall contain —
(A) to the extent such information is available on the basis of a complete search of agency files —
(i) a notice of the type and quantity of such hazardous substances,
(ii) notice of the time at which such storage, release, or disposal took place, and
(iii) a description of the remedial action taken, if any, and
(B) a covenant warranting that —
(i) all remedial action necessary to protect human health and the environment with respect to any such substance remaining on the property has been taken before the date of such transfer, and
(ii) any additional remedial action found to be necessary after the date of such transfer shall be conducted by the United States.
The requirements of subparagraph (B) shall not apply in any case in which the person or entity to whom the property is transferred is a potentially responsible party with respect to such real property.
(i) OBLIGATIONS UNDER SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL ACT — Nothing in this section shall affect or impair the obligation of any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States to comply with any requirement of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (including corrective action requirements).
(j) NATIONAL SECURITY —
(1) SITE SPECIFIC PRESIDENTIAL ORDERS — The President may issue such orders regarding response actions at any specified site or facility of the Department of Energy or the Department of Defense as may be necessary to protect such interests, as exemption from any requirement contained in this title or under title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 with respect to the site or facility concerned. The President shall notify the Congress within 30 days of the issuance of an order under this paragraph providing for any such exemption. Such notification shall include a statement of the reasons for the granting of the exemption. An exemption under this paragraph shall be for a specified period which may not exceed one year. Additional exemptions may be granted, each upon the President’s issuance of a new order under this paragraph for the site or facility concerned. Each such additional exemption shall be for a specified period which may not exceed one year. It is the intention of the Congress that whenever an exemption is issued under this paragraph the response action shall proceed as expeditiously as practicable. The Congress shall be notified periodically of the progress of any response action with respect to which an exemption has been issued under this paragraph. No exemption shall be granted under this paragraph due to lack of appropriation unless the President shall have specifically requested such appropriation as a part of the budgetary process and the Congress shall have failed to make available such requested appropriation.
(2) CLASSIFIED INFORMATION — Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all requirements of the Atomic Energy Act and all Executive orders concerning the handling of restricted data and national security information, including “need to know” requirements, shall be applicable to any grant of access to classified information under the provisions of this Act or under title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986.
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