Superfund

In 1980, the EPA passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as the Superfund Program, in response to the infamous environmental problems associated with "Love Canal" in Niagara Falls, New York. The goal of the Superfund Program was to clean up the numerous amounts of hazardous waste sites throughout the country that had occured from the illegal or improper disposal of hazardous wastes and contaminants. Up until 1995, Congress had adopted the "polluter pays" concept for collecting enough money (approximately 1 Billion dollars annually) to clean up these hazardous waste sites. However, in the years after 1995 Congress has failed to renew the taxes on oil and chemical industries that helped to pay for the clean up. As the government program continues to approach bankruptcy, more and more taxpayer dollars are contributing to the clean up of the hazardous waste sites created by large corporations as a result of the improper disposal of hazardous materials and chemicals. The percentage of taxpayer dollars that is being used to help clean up these sites has increased from 18 percent to 53 percent because of the fact that the "polluter pays" concept is no longer being used. The decrease in money being contributed to the Superfund Program by the polluters themselves is responsible for a decrease in half of the amount of Superfund sites being cleaned up each year. While there have been 886 hazardous waste sites cleaned up since the beginning of the program in 1980, and 40 in the last year alone, there are still 1203 sites still on the "National Priorities List". Politically, it seems unlikely that the Superfund Program will be done away with, however it is not sure how the program is expected to continue in years to come.