When the government makes a promise, that promise should be kept. It’s been almost 30 years of waiting for the Pentagon to clean up Mount Umunhum, and as Senator Boxer explains in a piece last week in the San Jose Mercury News, it’s time to get it done:
When the site was acquired in 1986 by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District for $250,000, the Defense Department gave assurances that it would be cleaned up. But the cleanup has moved at such a slow pace that toxic materials — petroleum products, solvents, PCBs, friable asbestos and deteriorating lead-based paint — are threatening to become an increasing danger to public health and the environment. Mount Um’s environmental, historical and tribal legacy is at risk.
If Congress acts now, we can begin the work of removing this toxic debris and repairing critical infrastructure. We can speed the day when this magnificent site will finally be accessible to the public. Now is the time to preserve Mount Umunhum’s legacy. I urge my colleagues in Congress to join us in backing this important investment.
As the Senator says, now is the time for Mount Um.
Tags: barbara boxer