Superfund Will Need More Money to Continue Cleanup Work

Abstract

The Environmental Protection Agency's authority to clean up abandoned and inactive hazardous waste sites won't expire until 1985. But the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Transportation & Tourism already has begun gathering information on how well the law—best known as Superfund—has been working. One major concern is whether there will be enough money in Superfund to finance all of the cleanup work it is supposed to do. The consensus is that there won't. Even the chemical industry agrees. As Louis Fernandez, board chairman of both Monsanto and the Chemical Manufacturers Association, told the subcommittee, had originally hoped that the five-year, $1.6 billion fund would be adequate [but] great uncertainties remain. We don't know how many sites ultimately will need attention, the average cost of cleaning up such sites, or the average percentage of Superfund participation necessary at each site. Our review at least indicates that more funding will be needed beyond 1985 to continue an ...