On the 35th anniversary of Superfund, the environmental group Citizens Against Toxic Exposure (CATE) plans to release a new study of Superfund activity and what they call mismanagement of the program. CATE is asking Congress to reinstate the “Polluter Pays†fees.
The group lauded the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners decision to not build the county jail on the Escambia Treating Company Superfund Site (ETC).
“It was a good call, because the toxic soil from ETC (aka “Mt. Dioxinâ€) is still on the site,” said Francine Ishmael, CATE Executive Director, in a press release. “Instead of a real cleanup /detoxification, it was buried underground. There are serious concerns about human exposures and financial liability, so the site sits empty, like the nearby Agrico Superfund Site. Both should have been cleaned up thoroughly and put back in productive use.”
CATE points how that the EPA Superfund was initially funded by fees charged to industries that create or use toxic chemicals. Now the taxpayers pick up the tab for cleanups.
“Because the Superfund’s “Polluter Pays†fee has expired, Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer provide what funding the program does receive, and the federal program is starved for money,” said Ishmael. “Real cleanups are needed to protect human health, but across the U.S., cleanups are delayed and short changed. Escambia County, home to seven Superfund Sites, has special reason to care about the quality of Superfund cleanups.”
CATE believes that reinstating the “Polluter Pays†fee would stabilize the Superfund Program and accelerate the cleanup of contaminated sites like “Mt. Dioxinâ€. The Center for Health, Environment & Justice claims that problems with the Superfund program are due to inadequate funding and the faulty leadership of EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.
The CATE report will be released on Tuesday. The Center for Health, Environment & Justice will hold a national conference call news briefing for journalists at 1 p.m. on Tuesday.