Obama asks Congress for $60.4 billion in Sandy aid

[ScienceRocks]

Obama asks Congress for $60.4 billion in Sandy aid
Associated Press ^ | Dec. 7, 2012 8:58 PM ET | Andrew Taylor

Associated Press

President Barack Obama asked Congress Friday for $60.4 billion in federal aid for New York, New Jersey and other states hit by Superstorm Sandy in late October. It’s a disaster whose cost is rivaled only by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the 2005 Hurricane that devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

Obama’s request adds a huge new to-do item to a congressional agenda already packed with controversy on how to resolve the nation's budget woes and avoid the so-called fiscal cliff.

“Our nation has an obligation to assist those who suffered losses and who lack adequate resources to rebuild their lives,” Jeffrey D. Zients, deputy director of Obama’s budget office, wrote to congressional leaders. “At the same time, we are committed to ensuring federal resources are used responsibly and that the recovery effort is a shared undertaking.”

The measure blends aid for homeowners, businesses, and state and local government walloped by Sandy and comes with just a few weeks to go before Congress adjourns. Whether it passes this month or gets delayed in whole or part until next year is unclear. Most of the money—$47.4 billion—is for immediate help for victims and other recovery and rebuilding efforts. There’s another $13 billion for mitigation efforts to protect against future storms. …

I'll agree with this if this money is only used to rebuild on higher ground(47.4 billion). The 13 billion should be used to build levees around New York, etc. We need to build wisely.

 

[occupied]

Haa! Finally something for the republicans to hold hostage in the debt ceiling negotiations, bet on it.

 

[waltky]

Toxic sites could be dangerous when the dust kicks up next summer...

Few tests done at toxic sites after superstorm
23 Dec.`12 — For more than a month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said that the recent superstorm didn't cause significant problems at any of the 247 Superfund toxic waste sites it's monitoring in New York and New Jersey.

But in many cases, no actual tests of soil or water are being conducted, just visual inspections. The EPA conducted a handful of tests right after the storm, but couldn't provide details or locations of any recent testing when asked this week. New Jersey officials point out that federally designated Superfund sites are EPA's responsibility. The 1980 Superfund law gave EPA the power to order cleanups of abandoned, spilled and illegally dumped hazardous wastes that threaten human health or the environment. The sites can involve long-term or short-term cleanups.

Jeff Tittel, executive director of the Sierra Club in New Jersey, says officials haven't done enough to ensure there is no contamination from Superfund sites. He's worried toxins could leach into groundwater and the ocean. "It's really serious and I think the EPA and the state of New Jersey have not done due diligence to make sure these sites have not created problems," Tittel said. The EPA said last month that none of the Superfund sites it monitors in New York or New Jersey sustained significant damage, but that it has done follow-up sampling at the Gowanus Canal site in Brooklyn, the Newtown Creek site on the border of Queens and Brooklyn, and the Raritan Bay Slag site, all of which flooded during the storm.

But this week EPA spokeswoman Stacy Kika didn't respond to questions about whether any soil or water tests have been done at the other 243 Superfund sites. The agency hasn't said exactly how many of the sites flooded. "Currently, we do not believe that any sites were impacted in ways that would pose a threat to nearby communities," EPA said in a statement. Politicians have been asking similar questions, too. On Nov. 29, N.J. Sen. Frank Lautenberg wrote to the EPA to ask for "an additional assessment" of Sandy's impact on Superfund sites in the state.

Elevated levels of lead, antimony, arsenic and copper have been found at the Raritan Bay Slag site, a Superfund site since 2009. Blast furnaces dumped lead at the site in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and lead slag was also used there to construct a seawall and jetty. The EPA found lead levels as high as 142,000 parts per million were found at Raritan Bay in 2007. Natural soil levels for lead range from 50 to 400 parts per million.

More Few tests done at toxic sites after superstorm - Yahoo! News