Revere Copper Dock Collapse

Floor Speech

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Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to how corporate greed threatens our public health and environment with an alarming example from my hometown of Detroit.

On November 26, 2019, a portion of a dock operated by Detroit Bulk Storage collapsed into the Detroit River sending tons of crushed limestone into the river, disturbing contaminated river sediment and exposing the public and our water supply to the decades of contamination buried at this former uranium rod manufacturing site.

Detroit Bulk Storage took unnecessary risks by overloading its failing dock, caused a collapse into the river, and waited 3 days before notifying the National Response Center. When they did, they merely reported it as a dock collapse with no indication for State or Federal regulators of the contamination present at the site and the need for urgency.

Testing from State regulators and the EPA is ongoing, and so far tests appear to indicate no significant radiation exposure. However, the site's owner, Revere Dock, LLC, continues to drag its feet in developing and implementing a restoration plan.

This is yet another stark reminder that we cannot ever count on corporations to put the public interest ahead of their own profits and that we need drastic changes to strengthen regulatory tools and to hold them accountable to protect our public health.

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