Bush's planned Superfund cuts may kill jobs in 18 states

WASHINGTON — Cleanup work at toxic waste sites in 18 states will be severely curtailed or in some cases halted under a Bush administration plan to reduce spending for the nation's Superfund program, according to an Environmental Protection Agency analysis.

EPA Administrator Christie Whitman previously announced planned cutbacks, but an EPA inspector general's report, made public Monday, for the first time indicated which sites would be affected.

The IG report, released by two Democratic congressmen, said 33 Superfund sites in 18 states would no longer get money, beginning next fiscal year, from a special cleanup fund that is running out of money.

A dozen other sites across the country will get some additional money, but less than what regional officials had said is needed for cleanup. And long-term remediation work at more than 50 additional sites also would receive less money, the report said.

The Bush administration wants to shift funding for the 33 cleanup projects to the government's general fund, meaning taxpayers would pay. But such a shift requires congressional approval and will slow down the work and likely halt it entirely is some cases.

The Superfund projects singled out for cutbacks are among the country's most polluted sites. They include several old mines in Montana, a wood preservative plant in Louisiana, chemical plants in Florida and a New Jersey plant that once made the herbicide Agent Orange, the IG report said.

The 1980 Superfund law says polluters should pay to clean up their own environmental mess. The fund came from taxes on chemical and petroleum companies, but those taxes expired in 1995 and Congress has not renewed them.

Since 1995, the fund has dwindled from a high of $3.6 billion to a projected $28 million at the end of next year. The Bush administration has opposed resumption of the special taxes and Congress has not addressed the issue recently.

Two Democratic congressmen — Rep. John Dingell of Michigan and Frank Pallone of New Jersey — asked for the EPA report and made it public Monday. Details were first reported Monday by The New York Times.

Dingell said the administration's refusal to support renewal of the Superfund tax has "seriously imperiled" the cleanup "of the most dangerous contaminated toxic waste sites in the country" because of inadequate funding.

"The Bush Administration refuses to fund the necessary cleanup of toxic sites around the nation," added Pallone. He said failure to restore the Superfund tax "seriously undermines" the program.