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政治报

特朗普就超级基金污染场地上的高尔夫项目与马里兰州发生冲突Trump clashes with Maryland over golf project on a Superfund site

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2018年3月25日,马里兰州,唐纳德·特朗普总统从海湖庄园返回华盛顿途中,空军一号的影子映在安德鲁斯空军基地的高尔夫球场上。Air Force One's shadow is seen over Andrews Air Force Base's golf course while President Donald Trump travels back to Washington from Mar-a-Lago March 25, 2018 in Maryland.

唐纳德·特朗普计划在首都附近再改建一座高尔夫球场——这次是在安德鲁斯联合基地内一处超级基金污染场地之上,而该基地正是空军一号的驻地——此举正遭到马里兰州州长韦斯·摩尔的反对。

Donald Trump's plan to make over another golf course near the nation's capital — this one on top of a Superfund site at the military base home to Air Force One — is drawing pushback from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.

这位民主党籍州长的最高环境监管官员上周四致信安德鲁斯联合基地指挥官,就该项目可能影响附近社区的受污染径流提出“严重关切”。她表示,在总统于6月豁免了该工程应遵守的州和联邦水污染法规后,空军拒绝让州检查人员进入该场地。该场地位于马里兰州乔治王子县,紧邻华盛顿边界。

The Democrat's top environmental regulator last Thursday sent a letter to the commander of Joint Base Andrews raising “serious concerns” about contaminated runoff from the project that could affect nearby neighborhoods. After the president waived state and federal water pollution rules for the work in June, she said the Air Force denied state inspectors access to the site located just over the border from Washington in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

马里兰州环境部部长塞雷娜·麦基尔韦恩在独家提供给《政治报》的这封信中写道:“我对此事高度重视。我的检查人员有责任评估潜在的环境影响以及是否遵守了适用要求,我期望基地配合他们履行这一职责。”

“I take this matter seriously. My inspectors have a responsibility to assess potential environmental impacts and compliance with applicable requirements, and I expect the base to cooperate with them in carrying out that responsibility,” Maryland Department of Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain wrote in the letter shared exclusively with POLITICO.

白宫发言人表示,对这座历史悠久球场的改造将惠及军人家庭。安德鲁斯联合基地的一名发言人则否认该部门被禁止进入基地,称一名州检查人员“被护送进入了基地设施”。白宫发言人戴维斯·英格尔在一份声明中说:“特朗普总统是一位冠军级高尔夫球手,对细节和设计有着非凡的眼光,他改造和美化安德鲁斯联合基地高尔夫球场的愿景将带来亟需的改善,军人及其家属将能在未来几代人中享用。”

A White House spokesperson said the revamp of the storied green will be a boon for military families. And a spokesperson for Joint Base Andrews denied that the department was barred from the base, saying that a state inspector “was escorted onto the installation.”“President Trump is a champion-level golfer with an extraordinary eye for detail and design, and his vision to renovate and beautify Joint Base Andrews’ golf courses will bring much needed improvements that servicemembers and their families will be able to enjoy for generations to come,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement.

空军一名发言人表示,改造工程并不在流经基地的主要溪流附近进行,超级基金场地的受污染土壤也未受到扰动。

An Air Force spokesperson said the renovation is not occurring near the major creek that runs through the base and that polluted soil from the Superfund site is not being disturbed.

美国空军部发言人在一份声明中表示:“如果未来在垃圾填埋场上进行翻新和改造工程,空军部会采取谨慎措施,避开已知的污染区域,确保不扰动任何已知受污染区域,从而保护现有的防护措施。”“未来的任何工作,包括土壤管理,都将完全遵守所有适用的环境法律法规。”但特朗普的豁免令改变了“适用法律”的范围。

“To the extent that a future renovation and revitalization project may be conducted above the landfill, the Department of the Air Force takes careful steps to avoid known contamination and to ensure that any areas of known contamination are not disturbed, thereby safeguarding protective measures that are already in place,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Any future work, including soil management, would be conducted in full compliance with all applicable environmental laws and regulations.”But Trump’s waiver changes what those applicable laws are.

通常情况下,像安德鲁斯基地这样的翻新工程需要对湿地和溪流的影响申请许可,但马里兰州环境部发言人戴夫·艾布拉姆斯表示,空军已告知该部门,它不打算申请湿地许可,且尚未完成侵蚀和雨水控制许可的申请。

Typically, a renovation like the one at Andrews would require permits for impacts to wetlands and streams, but Dave Abrams, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Environment, said the Air Force has told the department it does not plan to apply for wetlands permits and hasn't completed erosion and stormwater control permit applications.

艾布拉姆斯说:“空军已表示打算在获得这些批准之前就开始施工。”

“The Air Force has indicated that it intends to proceed with construction before receiving those approvals,” Abrams said.

这座高尔夫球场自20世纪70年代以来一直是总统们经常光顾的场所,此次改造是特朗普一系列争议性项目中的最新一例——从肯尼迪中心到林肯纪念堂倒影池,再到白宫舞厅,以及东波托马克公园的高尔夫球场——特朗普在其按照自己的构想重塑华盛顿特区景观的过程中,将这些项目匆忙推进,绕过了常规审查程序。

The overhaul of a golf course that has beenfrequented by presidents since the 1970s is the latest in a string of contentious projects — fromthe Kennedy Center tothe Lincoln Reflecting Pool to theWhite House Ballroom to thegolf course at East Potomac Park — that Trump has rushed through typical review processes in his bid to remake the Washington, D.C., landscape in his image.

安德鲁斯高尔夫球场主要供军事人员及其家属使用,但也对当地居民开放,同时也是总统们喜爱的休闲场所。巴拉克·奥巴马在任期间曾在那里打过高尔夫球100多次,罗纳德·里根、杰拉尔德·福特和乔·拜登也以在那里开球而闻名。

Primarily used by military personnel and families but open to local residents, the Andrews golf course has also been a popular relaxation spot for presidents. Barack Obama golfed there over 100 times throughout his presidency, and Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford and Joe Biden were also known to tee off there.

但特朗普很少光顾该球场,而是选择在自己位于弗吉尼亚州斯特灵的特朗普国家高尔夫俱乐部等私人度假村和俱乐部打球。

But Trump has rarely visited the course, instead opting to play at his own private resorts and clubs like Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.

去年,总统曾对记者表示,安德鲁斯基地的设施“状况非常糟糕”,随后他带高尔夫传奇人物、著名球场设计师杰克·尼克劳斯空中巡视了基地的果岭。

Last year, the president told reporters the Andrews facilities were “in very bad shape” before giving golf legend and famed course designer Jack Nicklaus an aerial tour of the base’s greens.

特朗普已选定尼克劳斯旗下的1-JN公司重新设计基地的果岭。根据一则招聘信息和该公司的客户名单,总部位于新泽西州的拉巴尔高尔夫公司负责监督施工,该公司曾翻修过六处特朗普高尔夫产业。两家公司均未回应置评请求。

Trump has tapped Nicklaus’ firm, 1-JN, to redesign the base’s green. Labar Golf — a New Jersey-based company that has renovated six Trump Golf properties — is overseeing construction, according to a job posting and its list of clients. Neither firm responded to requests for comment.

该场地被列为美国《超级基金法》下优先清理的对象,由于数十年的工业和机场活动,这里受到重金属、多氯联苯(PCBs)和“永久化学品”等有害物质的污染。球场建在几处垃圾填埋场之一的上面。

The site, which is listed as a priority for cleanup under the nation’s Superfund law, is contaminated with hazardous materials like heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and “forever chemicals” from decades of industrial and airfield activities. The course was built on top of one of several landfills.

在超级基金场地或其他垃圾填埋场上建高尔夫球场并非没有先例。事实上,新墨西哥大学法学教授克利福德·维拉表示,这样做可以是封存污染的有效方式。维拉曾在拜登政府时期担任环保署高级官员。

It’s not unheard of to put a golf course atop a Superfund site or other landfill. In fact, doing so can be an effective way of capping the pollution there, said Clifford Villa, a law professor at the University of New Mexico who was a senior EPA official under the Biden administration.

但他表示,如果翻修球场时不谨慎,可能会为污染物释放创造通道。

But renovating the course, if not done carefully, could create a pathway for pollutants to be released, he said.

“在安德鲁斯,他们存在铅、石棉……的污染,那里有一些可追溯多年的严重污染物,”维拉说,他在环保署的职责包括监督超级基金项目。“所以这并非小事,土壤和封盖层下方释放污染物的可能性也并非小事。”

“At Andrews, they have contamination with lead, asbestos … they have some serious contaminants there going back a lot of years,” said Villa, whose role at EPA included oversight of the Superfund program. “So this is not insubstantial and not an insubstantial potential for release of contaminants in the soil and beneath the cap.”

特朗普在6月指责摩尔“叫停”了高尔夫球场项目,摩尔政府当时对此予以否认。数周后,特朗普动用了此前仅用于国家安全要务的权力,为翻修工程豁免了水污染法规。

Trump accused Moore in June of having "put a halt" to the golf course project, which Moore's administration denied at the time. Weeks later, Trump waived water pollution rules for the renovation, using an authority previously only tapped for national security imperatives.

一位了解情况的马里兰州官员表示,特朗普政府与马里兰州曾就该项目的许可要求存在分歧,但摩尔并未加以阻挠。

A Maryland official familiar with the situation said the Trump administration and Maryland had disagreed about permits needed for the project, but that Moore did not stand in its way.

马里兰州官员致信之际,正值该州与美国空军之间还有其他环境争端。

Maryland officials' letter comes amid other environmental disputes with the Air Force.

穆尔政府还对空军3月份的一次喷气燃料泄漏事件表示担忧,该事件导致超过2.2万加仑的危险液体流入土壤和皮斯卡塔韦溪,后者是波托马克河的一条支流,促使该州启动环境调查并持续进行水质监测。马里兰州国会代表团的全部九名民主党成员周三致信空军部长特洛伊·迈因克,表达了对清理工作的不满。

The Moore administration is also raising concerns about an Air Force jet fuel spill in March that sent over 22,000 gallons of hazardous liquid into soil and Piscataway Creek, a Potomac River tributary, prompting the state to begin an environmental investigation and ongoing water quality monitoring. All nine Democratic members of Maryland’s congressional delegation sent a letter Wednesday to Air Force Secretary Troy Meink expressing frustrations with the cleanup.

“修复工作正在进行中,并将持续到水质达到州标准为止,”该基地发言人在被要求就泄漏应对置评时表示。“我们将继续监测和管理降雨期间可能从基地外地下土壤中迁移出来的残留燃料。”环保人士对各机构关于高尔夫球场项目不会影响皮斯卡塔韦溪等附近水道的说法持怀疑态度,该溪流已因基地此前使用的消防泡沫中的“永久化学品”而处于警告状态。

“Remediation efforts are ongoing and will continue until water quality meets state standards,” a spokesperson for the base said when asked for comment on the spill response. “We continue to monitor and manage residual fuel that may be mobilized from subsurface soil off base during rainfall events.”Environmentalists are skeptical about the agencies’ assertions that the golf course project won’t affect nearby waterways like Piscataway Creek, which is already under an advisory for “forever chemicals” from firefighting foam previously used on base.

“对该场地进行大规模挖掘是项目的一部分,”波托马克护河者网络总法律顾问大卫·弗洛雷斯说。“最坏的情况下,它可能通过释放甚至可能尚未被污染的污染源,加剧溪流的污染。”

“Significant excavation of this site is part of the project,” said David Flores, general counsel at Potomac Riverkeeper Network. “At worst, it could exacerbate contamination of the creek by mobilizing sources that may not even be contaminated yet.”

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