Again, our Association would stress that we believe that the best approach to protecting the independence of the Ombudsman is through situating the office in the legislative branch of government. The recommendations outlined above are offered only as an alternative, if it is determined that a true legislative ombudsman for the EPA is not feasible.

In addition to these recommendations on the subject of ombudsman independence, the USOA has a few additional suggestions for changes that we feel would improve S. 606. Specifically, the USOA would further recommend that S. 606 be amended by making the following changes:

Access to the Administrator.-The USOA believes that an agency ombudsman, like an agency inspector general, should be guaranteed quick and easy access to the chief executive of the agency. With that in mind, our Association would suggest that a provision be added to S. 606 to specify "the Ombudsman shall have direct and prompt access to the Administrator, when necessary for any purpose pertaining to the performance of functions and responsibilities under this Act."

Subpoena Power-As drafted, S. 606 requires the EPA Ombudsman to ask the EPA Inspector General for the issuance of a subpoena needed in connection with an Ombudsman's investigation. Typically, ombudsmen in government have unilateral subpoena power. Our Association believes that requiring the EPA Ombudsman to go through the Inspector General to obtain a subpoena would invite the IG's office to second guess and, perhaps, to interfere with Ombudsman investigations. As an alternative, the USOA would suggest that Section 2008(d)(3) of S. 606 be amended to state that "in a case in which the Ombudsman experiences difficulty in gathering information pertaining to an investigation conducted by the Ombudsman, the Ombudsman may require by subpoena the production of all information, documents, reports, answers, records, papers, and other data and documentary evidence necessary in the performance of the functions assigned to the Ombudsman by this Act, which subpoena, in the case of contumacy or refusal to obey, shall be enforced by order of any appropriate United States district court."

Special Reports.-Section 2008(e)(4) of S. 606 requires the EPA Ombudsman "at least annually" to publish a report "on the status of health and environmental concerns addressed in complaints and cases brought before the Ombudsman.” Typically, ombudsman legislation also makes it clear that the ombudsman is empowered to publish special or "critical" reports, when the ombudsman deems it necessary to do so to bring an issue to the attention of the public and the policymakers. With that in mind, the USOA would suggest that Section 2008(e)(4) of S. 606 be amended to specify that "the Ombudsman shall also be authorized to publish such special reports as are, in the judgment of the Ombudsman, necessary or desirable."

In summary, the USOA enthusiastically supports action by Congress to reauthorize and strengthen the EPA Ombudsman. In addition, the USOA urges that, as S. 606 is being considered, Congress give particular attention to changing the bill in ways that would maximize the independence of the ombudsman to the extent feasible. Our Association would suggest that this focus upon independence, together with the other changes that we have outlined in this letter, would give the EPA Ombudsman the best chance to function effectively.

If the USOA can provide any information or assistance as your Committee considers and evaluates S. 606, then please contact either Mr. Marshall Lux or me. The United States Ombudsman Association appreciates and thanks you for the time and resources you are devoting to this important issue.

Sincerely,

STATEMENT OF L. ROGERS AND ANTONIA M. HARDY, HARRISON, ID

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. It is imperative that the National EPA Ombudsman Office remain independent and free from the bureaucracy and internal politics within any agency that can hamper, manipulate, stall, or circumvent vital investigations. The Independent National Ombudsman functions to insure protection of our shared environment, of ecological and human health. Ombudsman independence is a basic component of the checks and balances that validate our democratic system, and continued independence certainly is basic for insurance that public voice and options will be heard and considered. We know from direct experience (with Region 10 EPA in the Coeur d'Alene Basin Superfund) that continued Ombudsman independence is absolutely essential. In addition, we assert that Robert Martin, in particular, must be allowed to finish the open investigations.

Without his support and help, our grass-roots citizen group's voices within the Basin Superfund would likely never even have begun to be heard.

Our particular issues center around a small but very integral sliver of land within the Coeur d'Alene Basin, the now-abandoned 72-mile Union Pacific Railroad spur line between Mullan and Plummer. This abandoned line, which runs through the entire guts of the 1500 square mile Basin, was just beginning to be investigated by Ombudsman Martin when the changes within EPA happened. We believe that Martin's work with our group must continue, especially since the 72-mile right-of-way, highly contaminated by mine and railroad waste, is being converted into a PRECEDENT SETTING CERCLA/SUPERFUND RESPONSE recreational trail that will contain over 900 warning signs. Our group has submitted scientific data to Ombudsman Martin, and we compiled 27 pages of interrogatories which we submitted to him for investigation into Region 10 and the Bunker Hill Superfund. We believe that our rights as citizen/stakeholders were circumvented, ignored, abused, and our faith in EPA as the agency mandated to protect our human and environmental health and welfare has been seriously compromised. We believe that only with Ombudsman Independence can our truth be told.

We hold very dear our rights to have voice within our government. We take very seriously our duties as citizens to exercise our voices. We have spent years documenting what we believe are serious problems within the Coeur d'Alene Basin Superfund: inadequate testing, inaccurate descriptions within EPA documents, double-speak, even fatal-flaw information that, we believe, should be considered seriously before any EPA ROD (Record of Decision) is released this July. Yet, our voices continue to be ignored. In fact, the EPA-appointed contact person, assigned to answer citizen questions and concerns, has not answered our urgent and legitimate citizen/stakeholder questions in over 3 months. In fact, since the inception of this precedent trail plan which, we assert, hides tons of improperly characterized contamination, our voices have been systematically ignored and excluded from processes affecting directly our lives, our environment, our land. Without an Îndependent Ombudsman, we do not see how EPA can be held accountable to adhere to its own CERCLA/SARA mandated Public Policy dictates.

We support the Idaho Delegation's legislation to keep the Ombudsman independent. At the same time, we would urge that Ombudsman Martin be the one to continue his open investigations, including Union Pacific Railroad. To do otherwise would, we believe, be a misuse of the millions of tax dollars as well as the millions of hours of work ours included already invested into the Basin Superfund. Martin knows the problems, and he must be allowed to finish what he has begun.

In closing, during these times of change, when more and more immoral and questionably legal actions and schemes come to light, we think it is imperative to insure public voice, public scrutiny, public accountability. And we do not mean a semblance of public inclusion, but we mean genuine voice. After all, it is WE, The People, who, ultimately, are the ones affected directly by those decisions made in Washington D.C., and whose lives and well-being are entrusted to EPA. And so, as representatives of "The People", we urge you to reinstate immediately the Independent Ombudsman, and give Robert Martin the authority to complete his investigations. Thank you for the opportunity to address your committee.

STATEMENT OF BARBARA MILLER, SILVER VALLEY PEOPLE'S ACTION COALITION,

KELLOG, ID

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. God created a natural order when he made the earth. The air we breathe and the soil that we walk upon was not intended to do us harm. When that order is disrupted and as severely as it has been in the area of Shoshone County, otherwise known as the Silver Valley Bunker Hill Superfund site, chaos, confusion, and adversity of health reign, even one hundred years after the first reporting of the lead and heavy metal pollution.

Silver Valley People's Action Coalition is a sixteen-year-old non-profit organization established in Shoshone County and whose main mission has been to resolve the issues of environmental injustice resulting in a century of renegade mining operations.

It was SV PAC who first requested the investigation of Bob Martin EPA National Ombudsman when technical advisors for the nations second largest Superfund site found that after 10 years of remediation that Region Ten EPA had failed to remove lead and other heavy metal pollutants such as cadmium, arsenic, zinc, mercury and give the 5000 citizens living in four towns of the 21 sq. mile site a quality cleanup. It was determined in 1998 that even though EPA had the technology to do so, "the cleanup at Bunker Hill is inadequate and residents are still at risk", Dr. Joel

Hirschhorn, Technical Advisor for the Bunker Hill Superfund site, Kellogg, Id. In his report reviewing the studies done at Bunker Hill, in 1986 when SV PAC first became involved it was reported that the Federal Government had spent somewhere in the area of $25,000,000 on studies of the site and not one shovel full of dirt had been removed! The report goes on to state that the lesser quality cleanup had been negotiated by EPA with the mining companies years before.

As a result of the site not being adequately remediated, today more than 300,000 citizens in a 1500 sq. mile area beginning at the Montana border and extending into Washington State are awaiting a Record of Decision for alternatives to cleaning up lead and mine waste that has traveled downstream. One of every four children tested outside the 21 sq. mile "box" is found to have an elevated lead and are now lead poisoned. Numerous children in the Bunker Hill site are also still being tested a routine began in about 1974 and are found with elevated lead levels. Tragically nothing is done to properly diagnose or treat these children and the figures are being used by health officials to say that the site is cleaned up. When in fact the Record of Decision for the Bunker Hill site calls for the total removal of lead from the interior of homes and schools. Homes where in a 1992 pilot study found to have 2 to 50 times more lead in them than the yards that have been replaced. To this day nothing has been done to remove the lead from the interior of homes and unacceptable protocols to do testing in schools has been only partially carried out.

In September 1998 SV PAČ took these concerns to Region Ten who agreed that 12 specific areas identified by the Technical Advisors needed to be addressed for additional cleanup. At the same time it was recommended to call upon Idaho's political delegation to assist with an investigation to assure that the these areas targeted for cleanup were indeed addressed by EPA. This is when then Cong. Crapo first cooperated with our organization and the need for an Ombudsman investigation.

We are concerned at this time of Idaho's political leaders involvement in this process after selecting a member of the special interest mining group who has only been established in the area for less than 2 years to speak on behalf of SB 606. The group she represents is not only small in number but also has the backing of the local newspaper owned by one of the PRP's of the Superfund site that has no limits to the slander, lies and personal attacks directed at the victims who suffer from lead poisoning, oppression and economic depression brought on by the pollution. We live in fear of what is done to us on a local front for speaking out and actively working with EPA to bring the best possible cleanup and improved quality of life to our families and even tourists.

It is because of conflicts such as this that necessitates the importance for an independent National Ombudsman office to be established. An Ombudsman office that is free from bureaucratic and political pressures too often found in Superfund sites and communities with extreme pollution and contamination. The Ombudsman's position would maintain a fair, objective and impartial playing field for all of the citizenry involved.

These are only some of the facts and problems arising from the largest Superfund site in the Nation. These are reasons why SV PAC who has been long invested and worked with EPA, politicians, other agencies and most importantly the affected citizens support the permanent establishment of the Ombudsman's office. Due to his high level of commitment and impartiality in carrying out the work of the EPA Ombudsman office, Bob Martin is the person who has the experience and ability to fulfill the responsibilities of this office over the long haul.

In closing we thank this committee for holding these hearings and respectfully request that Robert J. Martin be reinstated as the national ombudsman for the EPA allowing him to bring closure to hours of work he has begun. In so doing this committee, present administrator and administration will witness a be part of an office it can be truly proud of!

STATEMENT OF RON SCHOLL, MISSOULA, MT

I would like to throw my support strongly behind legislation that would guarantee the independence of the office of the National EPA Ombudsman office. Although I do not live in a community that is part of a past or present Ombudsman case, I live near one (Alberton, Montana), and have followed the Ombudsman activities here and elsewhere, such as in Denver at the Shattuck site and Tarpon Springs, Florida.

Outside of the contaminated communities the Ombudsman has investigated, very few people nationwide are even aware of the existence of the Ombudsman office, much less of the impressive record of Robert Martin as Ombudsman. But contaminated communities can occur anywhere, and will continue to occur. The public de

serves a voice to air reasoned complaints about EPA handling of hazardous sites, and a listening ear uninfluenced by politics, including bureaucratic politics.

There is only one thing that outrages and alarms me more than some of the revelations uncovered in Ombudsman investigations, and that is the attempt by the EPA, under both the Clinton and now the Bush Administrations, to undermine the effectiveness of this watchdog office. Rather than learn from their mistakes, the EPA administration has retrenched.

A truly independent Ombudsman-at least in the United States of Americashould not be directed what cases to chose or drop, should not have his budget or staff depleted at whim, should not be told he can't speak to lawmakers or the public, and should not have his files illegally seized. Please protect the health of the people and our environment by supporting legislation that would keep intact and strengthen the purpose of the EPA Ombudsman: to investigate citizen complaints about EPA activity at hazardous waste sites in an objective manner and in an atmosphere of openness and full disclosure.

STATEMENT OF LUCINDA HODGES, DIRECTOR, ALBERTON COMMUNITY COALITION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH (ACCEH), MISSOULA, MT

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The Alberton Community Coalition for Environmental Health is a non-profit chemical injury advocacy group dedicated to improving the quality of life for victims of the April 11th, 1996, Montana Rail Link train derailment and chemical spill: the largest mixed chemical spill in railroad history. Members of ACCEH have worked with the Ombudsman since 1998 and the Alberton, MT, site is one of many open investigations that has been left pending. It is our highest hope that you will stand behind both the man and the office and vote in favor of Senate Bill 606.

The following testimony is offered to illustrate the effects of living in a contaminated community and the reason why this Nation needs an Independent EPA National Ombudsman who performs the job with both courage and integrity.

April 11th, 1996, the numbers:

133 tons-71 tons of spent oil refinery waste spilled and combined with 62 tons of chlorine creating a toxic plume that closed I-90 for 17 days.

• An initial "hot zone" of 72 square miles resulted in over 1,200 people evacuating from their homes, 352 people were treated at local hospitals, and one man died from exposure to toxic fumes.

• 25,000 hazardous waste filled railcars annually pass through Montana—The Last Best Place with an average of 5.3 accidents each month. In 1995 & 1996, Montana Rail Link was ranked by the FRA as having the 2d highest accident record for its class of railroad.

• Recent soil sampling revealed dioxins remain in the soil on the derailment site. The story behind the numbers:

Despite all assurances from the EPA that the "hot zone" was safe for returning evacuees' many residents and workers experienced a wide range of debilitating health problems upon entering the former "hot zone". Reported acute symptoms ranged from shortness of breath, headaches, migraines, blurred and double vision, nausea, dizziness, loss of concentration, muscle twitching, fatigue, skin rashes, joint pain to chronic conditions that developed over time such as seizures, balance disorders, lupus, asthma, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, cancer, and toxic encephalopathy. Thus began what is still an unresolved and tragic controversy that revolves around this simple question-Is it really safe to live in Alberton, MT?

By 1998, after YEARS of phone calls, letters, costly trips to EPA Region 8 Headquarters in Denver, Colorado, Washington, DC, the production of a documentary film, "A Toxic Train Ran Through It," and several well researched masters thesis's delving into the consequences of exposure to 133 tons of toxic waste were ignored by EPA officials-ACCEH petitioned the office of the National Ombudsman of the EPA to intervene. Shortly thereafter Robert Martin visited the community, met with individuals, reviewed public documents, and determined an investigation was warranted.

In November of 2000 more than 5 years after the derailment the first public and only hearing was held by EPA National Ombudsman, Robert Martin, in Missoula, MT. newspaper editor, Ken Picard, reported at the time, "For 10 grueling hours they brought forth medical records, news articles, videotapes, and photographs of defoliated trees and chemically injured animals. Some displayed large plastic bags and tackle boxes full of the prescription drugs they now rely on to survive. Mothers spoke of previously healthy children who can no longer play sports and whose medical bills total in the tens of thousands of dollars. Others asked why schools and

playgrounds were never remediated, what became of the toxic soil hauled through Missoula, and why residents weren't put through the same rigorous decontamination measures as rescuers. Grown men who recounted their experiences were reduced to tears and could not continue with their testimony. Their hopes are pinned on Robert Martin, national ombudsman for the environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who was asked to hold these hearings by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.).”

The ombudsman promised to conduct a second hearing and provide Senator Baucus with a full assessment of the Alberton community and the derailment site. Mr. Martin concluded the hearing with these words; "You're very brave. And for the record, you're not alone." Unfortunately, we are once again alone. Ombudsman Robert Martin, has not been able to keep his promise to the people of Alberton, MT due to direct and purposeful interference from the agency he is mandated to police. Only weeks after the hearing in Missoula, MT, ACCEH received this memo from Ombudsman Martin, "In view of reported recent personnel transfers and pending implementation of EPA Ombudsman Guidelines. all schedules for all National Ombudsman cases have been put on hold and/or delayed until further notice."

What we have learned in over 7 years of working with the EPA is that there is no such thing for an average American citizen as a "working" relationship with the EPA. There is no legitimate process for citizen complaints within the hierchy of the agency. Without reauthorization of the Ombudsman legislation this investigation and many others will never be completed. Years of work by local volunteers will be lost forever, and one more contaminated community will be left in an untenable position. A position that is well defined by Professor Michael R. Edelstein in his book, Contaminated Communities, "Most toxic victims suffer from citizen's bind. In seeking publicity, they enhance their community's stigma. In actively seeking answers, they enhance their level of stress. In depending on government for assistance, they are likely to be disappointed. And facing a mitagory gap, wherein an extended period of time elapses between the definition of the exposure and the execution of the steps to correct it, victims may find themselves trapped in a situation where they are damned no matter what they do."

What has prevailed in Alberton, MT, are corporate politics, bad science, poor site management, and no accountability for millions of superfund dollars. The real-life human consequences of this malfeasance have been documented and witnessed everyday over the past 7 years in our little town by chronic illness, blighted housing, boarded up business's, and dislocated families with the tab mostly being picked-up by the American tax payer every time someone's mother, father, or child, requires assistance from social services, disability, or full time care-taking. The true social and economic costs to our town and this Nation for the broken lives of the chemically injured are staggering.

In closing, we thank you for holding this hearing and we respectfully request that Robert Martin be reinstated as the EPA's National Ombudsman and be allowed to finish the investigations he began and continue on under this legislation as a truly independent EPA National Ombudsman that the entire Nation can be proud of.

CINDY KOKE,

Denver, CO.

SENATOR JEFFORDS: I am writing today in reference to bill 606 the Ombudsman Reauthorization Act of 2002. The bill relates to the reauthorization and restructuring of the office of Ombudsman of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Ombudsman's office has been instrumental in investigating and righting wrongs at Superfund sites where mistakes were made. Every agency has entities in place to audit and investigate mistakes or wrong doing. Police Departments have internal affairs divisions. The political arena has sub committees armed with special prosecutors to investigate wrongdoing.

The environment is such an important issue. It affects the air we breathe the water we drink, the food we eat, În other words not only our health but also our very existence. It is just common sense, with such important issues at stake, that the American people have an Ombudsman concerning the environment. It also makes sense that this office should be funded independently so that the EPA cannot control or hinder investigations. The Ombudsman should be the one to pick which cases warrant investigation, not the agency that made the mistake. There are many wonderful people working for the EPA but as in all organizations people make mistakes. There is no reason to be afraid of the truth. We should all have the same interest at heart. Environmental protection should mean a remedy protective of health and environment.