The Superfund365 weekly email recap is suspended this week to commemorate the 4TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE SUPERFUND’S TRUST FUND GONE BROKE. The following is a bit of background followed by three really simple actions you can take to make sure this day does not pass unnoticed. (Next week we will resume with the regular email recap program.)

THE BACK STORY: This Sunday, September 30, 2007, is the 4th year anniversary of the bankruptcy of Superfund’s Trust Fund. In 2003, the General Accounting Office (GAO) announced that the Superfund’s Trust Fund would be completely used up by the end of that fiscal year (September 30), leaving US taxpayers responsible for cleanup costs instead of the polluting companies.

The Superfund program, born in 1980 as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), is the federal government’s program to cleanup the worst and most uncontrolled hazardous waste sites in the nation. CERCLA acquired its loving nickname because its trust fund was one of its most stunning glories. From the beginning, CERCLA had money — or a “super” fund — to enable immediate response and cleanup by the EPA. The agency was also committed to finding the responsible parties in order to recoup any money spent and force long-term costs upon those who had made the toxic mess in the first place. The trust fund’s purpose, however, was to allow for immediate action based upon need. It ensures that people living near a site do not have to wait for years and continue living in danger while legal matters are worked out.

The Superfund’s Trust Fund was initially $1.6 billion and by 1995 it had accumulated a surplus of $3.8 billion. This healthy surplus was a result of a “polluter pays tax.” This tax paid by the chemical and oil industries (the industries primarily responsible for Superfund sites) replenished the coffer, allowing Superfund to go about its business. This tax was renewed under President Reagan and then again under President George Herbert Walker Bush. President Clinton supported the polluter pays principle, but Congress in 1995 allowed the tax to sunset and the trust ran dry by the end of 2003. The current Bush administration is the first and only administration to oppose the polluter pays tax and President Bush has threatened a veto if a renewal bill is brought before him. Despite this, two bills were very recently proposed in Congress — one introduced by Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and the other by Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) — that would bring back the tax and put the SUPER back into Superfund.

According to the United States Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG), US taxpayers paid $300 million towards Superfund in 1995 opposed to $1.2 billion in 2005 after the Trust Fund was empty; this is approximately a 300% increase in taxpayer burden! In these same ten years that corporations have not been paying into the Superfund’s Trust Fund, total funding for the program was dramatically reduced (by about a third), which brought about a significant drop in the total number of Superfund sites added to the National Priorities List and a drop in the total number of cleanups (or sites removed from the list).

A demand for the renewal of the polluter pays tax is a call to save the Superfund program. It is a call to put human health and our environment first before corporations and the market place. The Superfund program may seem like old news to some, but national tragedies such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina illustrate that toxic exposure is a still a real threat and the country lacks a plan with true enforcement power to protect its people. New York and New Orleans are just two instances in which environmental catastrophes and their aftermath have simply been ignored despite government knowledge and the means to act. Superfund365 highlights many more of these examples and still is by no means comprehensive.

3 EASY THINGS YOU CAN DO TO MARK THIS 4TH ANNIVERSARY:

1. Email this post to your friends and family. Circulate it widely.

2. Call your representative to tell him/her that the Superfund’s polluter pays tax must be renewed. You can use this guide by Safe From Toxics. You can also read more about Hinchey’s bill and Casey’s bill.

3. Plan a trip to your local Superfund site. According to the Center for Public Integrity, roughly 20% of the US population lives within 10 miles of a site featured on Superfund365. Take a look at the list of 365 sites and find one near you. Visit the site (organize a group or go on your own) and remember to bring a camera. Upload your thoughts, findings and photos, which will then be included in the ever-growing archive of Superfund365!

Let’s put an end to this not so super anniversary. When Superfund365 finishes its yearlong journey in September 2008, we are hoping that there will be no 5th Anniversary to commemorate.

Email Recap Index:
Week One
Week Two
Week Three (4th Anniversary Report)