Pierluisi and Serrano Achieve Another Success Related to the Federal Cleanup of Culebra and Vieques

Press Release

Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi and Congressman José E. Serrano of New York announced today that the House Appropriations Committee has approved language that the two representatives proposed to accelerate the pace of the federal government's cleanup of the island municipalities of Culebra and Vieques. The language is included in the Committee report accompanying the Fiscal Year 2016 Defense Appropriations Act.

The approved language notes that the Appropriations Committee recently received a report from the Department of Defense that details the Department's plans for completing the cleanup of contaminated areas on both Culebra and Vieques, and that includes a description of the types of weapons and the estimated amount of military ordnance that were used on both islands. Submission of this report by the Department was required by language inserted in the Fiscal Year 2015 Defense Appropriations Act by Pierluisi and Serrano, as part of their broader efforts to ensure that there is a full and transparent historic record on this subject.

In the report language approved this week, the Committee states that it "remains skeptical about the pace of environmental remediation on the islands." As a result, the Committee directs the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment, the top federal official charged with oversight of the Department's environmental restoration program, to brief the Committee within 90 days of the enactment of this bill. In that briefing, the Deputy Under Secretary will be required to advise the Committee on "the timeline associated with the completion of surface clearance removal actions, site investigations, and subsequent remedial actions to address hazards not previously addressed by the initial removal actions."

"The swift and comprehensive completion of the cleanup of the Navy's former training sites on Culebra and Vieques has been, and will remain, one of my top priorities in Congress. It is important for the safety of the public and the well-being of our environment, as well as for the tourism industry that is so critical to the local economy of each island. The report language that Congressman Serrano and I included in this year's Defense Appropriations Act serves to keep the pressure on the Department of Defense to fulfill its responsibility to clean up Culebra and Vieques," said Pierluisi.

"Despite significant progress in recent years, the extent and pace of cleanup on the islands of Vieques and Culebra is concerning. This language will help speed up the cleanup by requiring the Department of Defense to establish and report back to the Appropriations Committee with a clear timeline to fully decontaminate the islands. Its successful inclusion in the Fiscal Year 2016 Defense Appropriations bill report is an important victory in our efforts to help restore Vieques and Culebra to all their natural beauty and splendor," said Congressman Serrano, a senior Member of the Appropriations Committee.

In December 2014, as a result of the multiple-year efforts of the Resident Commissioner and Congressman Serrano, Congress approved legislation that requires the Department of Defense to fund the removal of dangerous military munitions from the publicly-accessible areas on the Northwest Peninsula of Culebra. This was an historic achievement that, like most accomplishments of great magnitude, was only possible because of teamwork, with Pierluisi and Serrano working closely with Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York to enact the bill into law.

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