Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 24, 1993 TAG: 9311240136
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Boucher, D-Abingdon, said the legislation would hasten the cleanup of the nation's hazardous-waste sites and better protect public health.
The Superfund program has come under intense criticism in recent years for spending too much money to clean up too few sites. Little more than 10 percent of the worst toxic spots have been cleaned up since the program's inception in 1980, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Much of the money in the national trust fund, which comes from taxes paid by various industries, has been spent on lawyers arguing over liability rather than on actual site cleanup.
As implemented now, "Any party who contributes even a thimbleful [of hazardous waste] is responsible for the entire cleanup," Boucher said.
"It has been a litigation feast for attorneys."
The legislation is co-sponsored by Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich. Both congressmen serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Superfund.
Under the bill, a three-member panel of EPA administrative judges would figure out who owes what. They would follow principles developed by Vice President Al Gore when he was a congressman:
The amount of waste contributed by each party.
The toxicity of the waste.
The degree or nature of the party's involvement at the site.
Whether or not the party cooperated with officials in preventing harm to the public or the environment.
The bill is one of several that have been introduced on Capitol Hill this session that take a shot at the Superfund program. Industry groups are coming up with proposals for liability reform, as well as for cleanup standards. The EPA is undergoing its own re-evaluation in anticipation of the law's reauthorization in October 1994.
Boucher said his bill could have an impact on sites where "people are still slugging it out in court."
It could help Roanoke County collect from industries that dumped paint sludge, chemical barrels and tires at the old Dixie Caverns Landfill. The county has gone to court to try to force those industries to share the cleanup costs.
The county already has reached an agreement to share costs with Roanoke Electric Steel Corp., which dumped fly ash at the old landfill.
by CNB