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January 8, 2004
CONTACT: Michael Fiorentino
215-567-4004 ext. 238
EXPLOSIVE NEW EPA STUDY
FINDS
TOXIC CLEANUPS VASTLY UNDERFUNDED
Philadelphia, PA - Environmental and public
health advocates today responded to an explosive new report
from the Environmental Protection Agency's Inspector General's
office, which found that the nation's leading toxic waste
cleanup program faces a funding shortfall of almost $175
million. This shortfall has dramatically slowed the pace
of cleanup at some of the nation's most toxic Superfund
sites.
"These enormous funding deficiencies
undermine public health in Pennsylvania and around the nation,"
said Michael Fiorentino, a senior attorney with Clean Air
Council. "The Bush Administration is drastically underfunding
the programs to clean up these sites-and it is letting polluting
industries off the hook in paying their fair share."
The Inspector General's report found that
funding shortages this year prevented cleanup efforts at
twenty-nine specific sites around the country. No current
superfund sites in Pennsylvania were denied funding this
year, although this year EPA did deny Superfund listing
for two contaminated sites recommended for the program by
the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
"It is clear that local communities
with toxic waste sites are competing against other polluted
communities around the country for a shrinking pot of money,"
Fiorentino said. "Last year, cleanup of a Superfund
site in Montgomery County was impeded by similar funding
deficiencies. The Superfund program is being allowed to
wither away before our eyes-public health and the environment
will suffer as a result."
Under the Bush administration, the number
of sites cleaned-up per year has been cut nearly in half.
The Superfund Law, passed in 1980, was designed along the
principle that the "Polluter Pays" to clean up
its own mess at these sites. Under this law, responsible
parties pay for a portion or all of the cleanup costs at
the site. "Orphan Sites"-where no responsible
party can be located-has been paid for out of the Superfund
Trust Fund. The fund was financed largely through a tax
on traditionally polluting chemical and oil industries.
However, the Superfund tax was allowed to expire in 1995
and the fund is now nearly depleted, leaving ordinary taxpayers
with the bill for the lion's share of clean-up costs.
"This is part of an ongoing pattern
within the Bush administration of shifting the costs of
environmental cleanup from polluters onto ordinary citizens,"
said David Masur of PennEnvironment. "This administration
is the first in 20 years, including Ronald Reagan and the
President's father, to oppose the Superfund polluter fund.
Americans should not be burdened with the negative health
effects or the cleanup costs associated with corporate polluters."
Nearly 70 million Americans-including
10 million children-live within four miles of a Superfund
site. The most common pollutants from these toxic waste
sites are heavy metals such as lead and arsenic, the human
carcinogen benzene, PCBs, mercury and dangerous solvents
that can cause kidney, liver and other cancers in humans.
The Centers for Disease Control have found that a variety
of health problems have been associated with many Superfund
sites, including birth defects, low birth weight, infertility,
and breathing difficulties.
The EPA Inspector General's investigation
was conducted at the request of Reps. John D. Dingell (D-MI)
and Hilda Solis (D-CA), and Sens. James Jeffords (I-VT)
and Barbara Boxer (D-CA). The report is online at http://environet.policy.net/documents/superfund/epa-ig-report.pdf
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