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Heinz asks House to weigh AGO report on PCB
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Posted on Nov 24 2000
Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider has prodded the House leadership to seriously consider a report prepared by the Attorney General’s Office in connection with the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination in Tanapag.
He expressed concern that failure by the government to act on its recommendations could aggravate the problem while residents continue to suffer with the environmental and health effects.
In response to his request, Speaker Benigno R. Fitial immediately instructed the House legal counsels to assist legislative committees in looking into the report.
Assistant Attorney General Murphy Peterson has submitted a report to Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio and the Legislature in which he claimed that federal agencies have mishandled cleanup of the PCB contamination in the Tanapag village.
AGO said it is planning a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency following findings by independent study that showed their failure to ensure safety of the villagers from the ill-effects of PCB.
According to Mr. Hofschneider, the government should not wait until a resident has been diagnosed of high level of the highly-toxic chemical in the body before it takes steps.
“PCB has insidious effect on human,” he told his colleagues in a session the other day. “It all depends on the dosage and how long you are exposed to it.”
Mr. Fitial stressed one would never know the harmful effects of the contamination until years later as he cited the impact of the atomic bomb testing in Bikini Atoll that has led to numerous ailments and disabilities among the living things there.
The contamination in Tanapag has drawn the concerns of many residents in the past few months that prompted the CNMI to ask for immediate cleanup.
Over a thousands residents — at least 17 of whom were found to have high level of PCB in their bodies — had also undergone medical evaluation to determine their exposure, which is expected to form the basis of future actions by the island government.
