EPA PROPOSES TO ADD
COMMERCE STREET PLUME IN WILLISTON
TO NATIONAL SUPERFUND LIST
JEFFORDS CITES LACK OF FUNDING
WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Sen. Jim Jeffords, I - Vt, has announced that
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed to add the Commerce
Street Plume in Williston to its National Priority List of Superfund
sites. If finalized, the designation would make the site eligible for
federal funding for clean-up and make it Vermont's 11th federally
recognized Superfund site.
The property is located in an industrial park and is contaminated with
byproducts from manufacturing and electro-plating operations emitted from
1960 to 1984. Volatile organic compounds have been detected in nearby
drinking water wells above health based standards and have migrated to
streams and wetlands that are habitat for two state designated threatened
species.
"I'm glad that the federal government recognizes the importance of
cleaning up this site, but unless the Bush Administration changes its
policies, there will not be federal funding to begin work on this project
for some time. With one in four Americans living within four miles of a
toxic waste site, we must give the Superfund program the resources it
needs," said Jeffords, the ranking member of the Senate Environment and
Public Works Committee.
Internal EPA documents released earlier this month reveal a record backlog
of clean-up projects estimated at $750 million. Just last week, EPA's
Inspector General reported that total spending on Superfund between 1999
and 2002 declined 11 percent when adjusted for inflation, from $1.71
billion to $1.52 billion. More than 1,200 toxic waste sites on the
Superfund National Priority List still await clean-up.
Jeffords continued, "I will continue to push the Bush Administration to
fully fund the Superfund program so that the Commerce Street Plume and
other sites across the nation get cleaned up without delay."
Superfund trust fund has been running short on funds since 1995, when the
Polluter Pays tax on corporations expired. The current Bush
Administration, unlike every other administration since President Reagan,
has not pushed to have it reinstated.
Jeffords is a co-sponsor of legislation, S. 173, to re-instate the
Superfund fees on polluters.