As Americans stream into post offices across
the country today to mail their tax returns, their task will be
made even less palatable when they learn that the Bush administration
is now charging the public -- rather than polluters -- for the clean-up
of Superfund sites.
The
BE SAFE Network, a joint project of several national, state, and
local environmental groups, is organizing community events in 26
states to highlight how the Bush administration is using tax dollars
to clean up contaminated sites, rather than follow
the traditional practice of collecting fees from corporate polluters.
Despite federal law mandating that the polluters should pay, the
public is underwriting toxic cleanups.[1]
A new tax analysis by U.S. PIRG, a member of the Be Safe network,
has determined that taxpayers will spend upwards of $1.27 billion
for toxics cleanups this year, compared to $303 million in 1995.
In Ohio, for example, the state paid $9.9 million towards cleanup
of 29 Superfund sites in 1995; in 2004, Ohio will pay nearly $41.3
million. Pennsylvania, with 92 Superfund sites, will spend nearly
$50.7 million in 2004,compared to $12.2 million in 1995.[2]
"On
Tax Day, Americans are especially concerned about how their tax
dollars are being spent. Unfortunately, with the Superfund toxic
waste program, the Bush administration is using tax dollars instead
of making corporate polluters pay to clean up
their toxic messes," said Carl Pope, executive director of
the Sierra Club, another member of the network. "Americans
are paying twice: once with their health and again with their taxes."
Local groups are distributing "polluter pay" stickers
at over 40 events around the country, for taxpayers to place on
thei renvelopes to the IRS. "We're reaching out to our neighbors
this Tax Day," said Kendra Kimbirauskas of the Sierra Club
in Oregon,
"to let people know that whether or not there is a Superfund
site in your backyard like we have in Portland, all taxpayers are
now footing the bill for toxic waste cleanups."[3]
As reported by BushGreenwatch (Mar. 1, 2004), Congress established
Superfund in 1980. It empowered the Environmental Protection Agency
to order polluters to clean up sites contaminated by their business
activities or other ventures.
Polluters
also funded a trust to pay for cleanup of sites where a responsible
polluter could not afford to pay, could not be found, or was no
longer in existence. These mandates constitute the "polluter
pays principle." The Bush administration is opposed to restoring
industry fees to Superfund. U.S. PIRG and Sierra Club report that
under the Bush administration, funding to the program has dropped
by 25% in the last three years compared to levels during the 1990s;
the rate of cleanups has fallen by over 50%; and, the number of
sites being listed has declined from an average of 30 per year from
1993-2000 to an average of 23.[4]
SOURCES:
[1] Sierra Club Press Release, April 14, 2004.
[2] U.S. PIRG, Cost of Superfund to Taxpayers 2004.
[3] Sierra Club Press Release, op. cit.
[4] BushGreenwatch, Mar. 1, 2004.
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