The freeway section through Downey began to show damage shortly after its completion, but Caltrans carried out early repairs while glossing over or concealing the problem, which turned out to be even bigger than highway officials at first thought.
Downey Public Works Director Desi Alvarez estimates the cost of freeway retrofitting and repair due to the water table problem has reached the area of $100 million thus far.
When segments of the new freeway in Downey continued to buckle and crumble despite repeated repairs, a fuller review pointed to basic engineering and design flaws. When the decision was made to build portions of the freeway below grade, adequate attention was not paid to the water table and its history.
The I-105 construction had already suffered lengthy legal delays, and even though some engineers tried to bargain for more time to study the water table, political pressure to finish the giant construction project won out.
The Southern California Water Replenishment District (WRD) is charged with maintaining groundwater quality. It does this by purchasing water and using it to replenish groundwater and thus maintain the fragile water table.
In past decades the groundwater was depleted and the water table fell. The WRD responded by replenishing the underground aquifers and raising the water level nearer the surface.
This was about the time Caltrans was opting to ignore further study and build the freeway.
When Caltrans found the water table beneath the freeway had risen and was undermining its foundations it built the first of what are now 20 wells to pump the water out.
But the WRD charges for each gallon of water pumped from the ground in its territory, no matter who does the pumping. It uses the funds to buy more water!
Thus, while Caltrans (a state agency) protests, it is still being charged for every gallon of water it pumps out of the ground to protect the costly I-105. The fee is paid to another state agency (the WRD), which meanwhile is pumping water back into the earth.
Meanwhile, water that could be treated and used locally is allowed to run to the sea through the storm drain system because of red tape required by the Department of Health Services over what needs to be done to make it potable.
Tests have been made and samples taken to satisfy the Health Services, but now more are required to be done over a period of time (at taxpayers' expense).
Meanwhile, water continues to be pumped into the ground (at the taxpayers' expense), water is pumped out (at taxpayers' expense), and that same precious water is then allowed to run to the sea, while officials in Sacramento discuss the matter at length.
Could you have imagined anything quite so stupid?
I don't trust big money outside interests who try to buy elections with slick mailers and "hit pieces." The treasurer of the opponents of Measure L is a Santa Monica lawyer, and their campaign is funded by the fireworks manufacturers.
Let's have a family-type City-sponsored public 4th of July fireworks display. The Fire Chief has discussed such a display with community leaders, and the Police Chief also favors it. Now that would be a genuine safe and sane show we can all support! Vote "Yes" on L!
It was not long before the floodgates of offshore manufacture would open wide to become what we now call the global economy. Some would point to this as a struggle between the haves and the have-nots. Others believe that labor, just like water, is seeking its own level, the opportunity for developing nations to have technology jobs instead of just supplying raw materials, to provide work in their own country so they all don't want to move here. The unions don't like exporting jobs because they lose members and thus dues. That battle is not over yet.
These early skirmishes only set the stage for what was to come 30 years later. It was felt we needed some kind of trade agreement to help with this form of "common market" between Mexico, the U.S. and Canada taking into account not only labor, but capital protection as well. The result was the North America Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA.
In his new series on PBS, Bill Moyers described how far afield the "internationalists" can get. Last week's show, "Trading Democracy," told how NAFTA, while pushed by President Clinton as promoting democracy, was, in fact, an end run around the Constitution of all three nations to protect capital. A secret tribunal adjudicates compensation of unrealized profits to private companies where their interests are compromised in another country.
California is a case in point. Our use of the chemical MTBE in gasoline to reduce smog and help protect the environment has, in fact, been found to have contaminated the groundwater. It has created a larger environmental threat than it prevented. Our state legislators and governor passed laws to phase out and ban MTBE in the whole state. Now, would you believe that MTBE is made by a Canadian company who will suffer loss of sales. So that foreign company is suing the U.S. government for $970 million for loss of future unrealized profits. If the tribunal rules for Canada, the U.S. government (all of us) will have to pay the claim, not just California.
You should not think American firms are sitting idly by watching the money leave town. The Canadian government wants to put health warnings on their cigarette packages, and our tobacco companies threatened a suit against the Canadian government because such warning would or might reduce smoking and thus hurt sales and profits. Canada backed down on the labeling under threat from American tobacco companies and now even more people in Canada will die an earlier death.
It just so happens that a law firm in Washington who helped write NAFTA is now handling both these lawsuits, which gives new meaning to the truth that there is no honor among thieves.
Interestingly, the treaty was supposedly done to promote trade with Mexico, and they were the first ones to get hit. The facts are straightforward. Mexico has a hazardous waste dump they wanted cleaned up. An American firm bought the site, and continued its use as a dump before starting to clean it up. The local people protested and then blocked access to the site. The Americans sued, got $16,002,433 and walked away. Now Mexico owns the still-uncleaned dump site again and has paid $16 million for nothing. All done by secret tribunal, not accountable to anyone. This is another legacy of the Clinton administration and ironically, will hobble the environmentalist causes of all three countries. Moyer's program noted some 80 areas that have potential for the U.S. government to pay foreign private interests. In my opinion, there should be no secret tribunals of any kind operating outside our Constitution binding our country.
There is a certain irony in all this. The part of the NAFTA agreement where the troublesome language rests is called Chapter 11.
For the Department of Defense, the President has proposed increasing spending by $38 billion to a total of $369 billion, a 12 percent increase from the fiscal year 2002 and the largest military buildup since Ronald Reagan was President. In addition, the budget sets aside a $10 billion reserve for future needs or new threats. As we have seen in the past few months, our military forces are well prepared for the initial phase of the war on terrorism. The best trained military units in the world, our armed forces have become familiar with new tactical and operational approaches. Although future military operations may be similar to operations in Afghanistan, the new challenges found in this first phase of the war require new thinking and sophistication. The President rightfully allocated the funds to continue training our men and women in the armed forces to meet future military challenges.
Although strategic air strikes cannot win battles alone, air power has certainly made it easier for our military to successfully complete their missions with fewer casualties. Our military needs the resources to develop unmanned aerial vehicles that are smaller, faster and more agile than manned fighters. Such unmanned vehicles could one day be used in preference to manned flights. The President's 2003 budget increases unmanned combat vehicle production and intensifies research to improve these life saving aerial devices. I am also extremely pleased that the President's budget assures key funding for continuing production of the C-17 transport aircraft, manufactured in Long Beach. Last year Congress approved an additional 60 C-17s and new reports indicate that additional requests could keep the Long Beach plant in full operation until at least 2010.
The President's budget provides $39 billion to strengthen homeland security next year and almost doubles the current funding level. Domestically, we must work daily to ensure that the painful events of September 11th are never repeated. The federal government has an obligation to keep all Americans safe and to prevent future attacks on our soil. This is a challenge that will require patience, hard work, and significant funding. Many Americans are already working hard to secure our homeland, and I commend their efforts. Governor Tom Ridge has set the foundations for a strong Office of Homeland Security.
The President's budget includes $21 billion for the Office of Homeland Security to fulfill four main goals laid out by the President when he established the Homeland Security office. The four urgent missions are:
* Ensuring state and local first responders (firemen, police and rescue workers) are prepared and equipped to meet terrorist threats.
* Enhancing our defense against biological and chemical attacks with $5.8 billion for hospitals, public health systems, research and vaccine stockpiles
* Securing our borders with $10.6 billion for more agents and better equipment
* Sharing information and using information technology to secure the homeland
While these are important goals for the Office of Homeland Security, our national strategy must continue to reach beyond these four points. With our broad borders, the potential for terrorist attacks on American soil is far too great. The President's budget proposes $380 million to establish a reliable system to track the entry and exit of immigrants, particularly those who might pose a security threat to the United States. With the proper funding we can keep our borders open to travelers and immigrants as we have for generations, while preventing entry by those who wish to do us harm.
As the President indicated in his State of the Union Address, America's enemies have once again underestimated America's resolve to stand as a model of freedom and hope for the rest of the world. By protecting America's homeland and maintaining the strongest, most advanced military in the world, the President's budget will help ensure that America's beacon of freedom continues to shine.