Being a relative newcomer to this issue, I, too, cannot ignore the invaluable efforts of all those that layed such a strong foundation so that today we have a strong bill for the Governor to sign. I echo the thanks already given to members of the legisla

The Brownfields Bill (H.5775/H.5776) agreed upon in conference committee was signed by Governor Cellucci on August 5^th 1998. ELM is pleased with the final bill, which includes tens of millions of dollars to stimulate cleanups and redevelopment without tax credits for polluters or liability relief for responsible parties.

STATEMENT OF NAMRITA KAPUR, LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL LEAGUE OF MASSACHUSETTS, AT THE BROWNFIELD BILL SIGNING CEREMONY

AUGUST 5, 1998

Thank you. I would also like to start by acknowledging the invaluable efforts of all those who laid such a strong foundation so that today we have this bill for the Governor to sign. I echo the thanks already given to members of the legislature, the Governor and his administration, the attorney general’s office, and fellow advocates.

I'm not an especially religious person and I am well aware of the difference between church and state but, there is a passage from the Bible that is appropriate for this occasion.

It's from the book of Isaiah:

"And your children shall build the old waste places: you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called, the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in."

In a very real sense, with the passage of this law -- thanks to the hard work of everyone here -- we are fulfilling those words. We are repairing the breach. I emphasize the word we, because that's how it happened. And now we are on our way to restoring thousands of places across Massachusetts that have been neglected.

We should feel very good about this new law, not just because we can congratulate each other today on a job well done but, because it will do what we set out wanting it to do:

being fair to those who have not caused or contributed to contamination,
providing tens of millions of dollars to needy sites,
spurring the clean-up of thousands of sites across the state; and
relieving pressure on greenfields.

And we did this without:

unnecessarily subsidizing polluters,
relieving polluters of liability; or
denying third parties access to justice.

On behalf of all those who will benefit from this law into the next millennium and on behalf of Massachusetts' environmental stakeholders -- namely all of us -- thank you, all you "repairers of the breach." The commonweal of those who live, work, and play in Massachusetts is that much better thanks to your hard work.