It has been almost 40 years since the nation heard the cries for help from Love Canal, a school and neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York built on a toxic dump filled with 21,000 tons of chemical waste. Children were sick, parents were scared and families lost their homes.
I know, because my children, my family and my home were among them.
The Love Canal crisis created a public awareness and scientific understanding that the chemicals people are exposed to in their everyday environment can cause serious harm to their health, especially to pregnant women and young children.
This understanding of the serious risk of living near pollution was the impetus to creating the Superfund program in 1980. The program gives communities power to hold corporations responsible for cleaning up contamination.
The cornerstone of the program is the “polluter pays” principle.
President Jimmy Carter signed the Superfund bill knowing that other sites similar to Love Canal would have immediate resources to reduce and eliminate people’s exposure to toxic chemicals. And it worked well for 20 years, including under presidents Reagan, G.H.W. Bush, and Clinton, who all supported the program and the tax that funded it.
Then, in 1995, Congress allowed the tax to expire and by 2003, the entire financial burden of paying to clean up the worst orphan toxic sites fell to the taxpayers. As a result, the number of toxic sites cleaned up went from an average of 85 a year down to as few as eight a year now.
The recently appointed head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, says Superfund is his priority. As the “mother of Superfund,” as I am often called, I should be thrilled. Instead, I’m terrified.
How can Pruitt call Superfund a priority if he’s proposing cutting the program’s budget by $330 million without advocating for the polluters’ tax to be reinstated?
There are 1,300 sites on the Superfund list. Of those, 121 sites don’t have human exposure under control. Contaminant levels at these sites are unsafe and people are at risk. There are another187 sites where groundwater migration of waste isn’t under control.
Nearly 53 million people live within three miles of a Superfund site, 46 percent are people of color and 15 percent live below the poverty line.
Pruitt is forming a special task force to improve Superfund, but his directive sounds eerily like a plan to expand the Superfund Alternatives program, and that would be a disaster.
Under Superfund Alternatives, responsible parties agree to clean up a site to avoid the stigma of being listed on the National Priority List. The program benefits the polluter while punishing the victims. It gives power to corporations, takes it away from communities harmed by the toxic sites, and weakens EPA oversight.
Superfund Alternatives removes mandatory citizen participation and access to information and resources provided by Superfund. Under the program, technical assistance grants that allow citizens to hire their own experts to review data and plans are awarded by the polluter rather than the EPA.
The alternative approach also allows a company to avoid flagging a National Priority List site as a liability in its financial papers. This can have a significant impact, especially if the company is being sold.
If the polluter is cleaning up the site under Pruitt’s watch, it doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that the cleanup will be as minimal as possible. The result will be partially cleaned-up sites being used for other purposes – and on a path back to where we started 40 years ago.
Institutional controls are supposed to prevent land that is too contaminated for residential use from ever being used for homes and schools. At Love Canal, those institutional controls failed in the 1950s to stop construction of the 99th Street School.
Under Pruitt’s direction, families like those recently evacuated from contaminated public housing in East Chicago, Indiana, might still be there, getting sicker.
If Pruitt truly wants to protect people around Superfund sites, then his first steps should be to advocate for reinstating the “polluter pays” tax to provide funds to adequately clean up sites.
He should hold polluters, not taxpayers, responsible for cleanup costs and collect triple damages from polluters who force EPA to go to court. He should also continue the technical assistance grants that provide communities with the information they need to understand their cleanup options.
Pruitt must protect the power of communities to hold polluters responsible, because after 40 years, it is painfully clear that we can’t count on corporations.
Category: News Archive
Statement from Lois Marie Gibbs:
Superfund was created following the Love Canal crisis in Niagara Falls, NY to primarily protect public health. I know because I was a resident and community leader at Love Canal. I found EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s Superfund Task Force Report almost entirely void of public health concerns.
In fact, the report only mentions health six times with four of those in the Executive Summary. The report sounds like a blueprint to involve for bankers, investors and developers and a plan for corporations to reduce cleanup costs and increase profits at the expense of public health. Redevelopment is mentioned 39 times.
There is no mention of the public health risks that exist at these sites or that will be created during the cleanup of a site. The report begins by stating, “the core mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is to protect the health of our citizens and the environment in which we all live.” Yet, there is nothing in this report that begins to address this mission. In fact, the report reads as if there are no people living around these Superfund sites, people who are sick and who care about protecting their children’s health.
Superfund sites are not islands unto themselves. Sites are connected to backyards, fence lines, drinking water sources and schools. Administrator Pruitt and those on the Task Force should be ashamed of their blatant disregard for public health and the innocent families whose health are impacted by these sites. They should reread the mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and throw this report into the recycling bin and start over.
We aren’t going to let him get away with this. We will not allow our voices to be drowned out by corporate interests. Superfund victims and activists from sites around the country have come together to create the People’s Task Force to advocate for our recommendations on the future of Superfund, based on our years of on-the-ground experience.
The Center for Health, Environment and Justice has been on the front lines in the fight for environmental health for 40 years. We train and support local activists across the country and build local, state and national initiatives that win on issues from Superfund to climate change.
Introducing The People’s Task Force on the Future of Superfund
Voices from Contaminated Communities Across the Country
The Trump Administration and newly-appointed EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt claim they want to return Superfund cleanups “to their rightful place at the center of the EPA’s core mission.” However their actions speak differently: their proposed budget includes a 30 percent cut in funding to the Superfund.
Last month, Pruitt assembled a Task Force to provide recommendations for the future of Superfund. His memo raises major concerns about decreasing cleanup oversight, privileging corporate interests over public health, and a lack of community involvement.
We aren’t going to let him get away with this. We will not allow our voices to be drowned out by corporate interests. Superfund victims and activists from sites around the country have come together to create The People’s Task Force to advocate for our recommendations on the future of Superfund, based on our years of on-the-ground experience.
Representatives of 25 Superfund sites and 70 environmental organizations have signed on to the People’s Task Force, which we are releasing to local and national media outlets today.
“Scott Pruitt must advocate with the White House to reinstate the Superfund Polluters Pay Tax. The American taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for corporate wrong doing.”
– Lois Marie Gibbs, Love Canal Leader, Mother of Superfund, CHEJ Founder
Here are the People’s Task Force recommendations, and a list of some of organizations that make up The People’s Task Force. Below are quotes from people living near Superfund Sites around the country.
So far, the Pruitt’s EPA has been markedly secretive. Unlike previous administrators, he has never made his schedule publicly available and ignores Freedom of Information Act requests. His Task Force has been similarly opaque: he has not disclosed who staffs the Task Force aside from Albert Kelly, a prior bank chairman with no environmental experience.
Furthermore, even though the 30-day time frame has expired, he has not released the Task Force recommendations or comments. Superfund cannot be lead like a business – decisions that affect the health of thousands of communities cannot be made behind closed doors by financially motivated industry stakeholders. This is why we have come together to publicly release our recommendations, and we urge Pruitt to act with integrity and do the same.
Quotes People’s Task Force Members
(Here is a list of some of The People’s Task Force members.)
“Scott Pruitt must advocate with the White House to reinstate the Superfund Polluters Pay Tax. The American taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for corporate wrong doing.”
Lois Marie Gibbs, Love Canal Leader and Mother of Superfund.
Center for Health, Environment & Justice
CHEJ.org
(703)-237-2249
chej2@chej.org
“Public health has to be the top priority in cleaning up toxic waste sites. The communities most affected by Superfund sites must be included in the process, but unfortunately that was not the case with Scott Pruitt’s Task Force.”
Robin Schneider (512) 326-5655
robin@texasenvironment.org
“Scott Pruitt’s plan to streamline the Superfund process in favor of cutting costs will lead to incomplete cleanups of contaminated neighborhoods, as demonstrated in the past at sites like MDI in Houston’s 5th Ward. Painted as a quick way to boost economic development, Pruitt’s recommendations are more akin to a fast track to injustice.”
Rosanne Barone (713) 337-4192
Rosanne@texasenvironment.org
Texas Campaign for the Environment
San Jacinto River Waste pits and other sites in Texas
“EPA leadership should prioritize the appropriate remedial solutions for sites on the NPL and assure the continued support from regional staff to local community members dealing with the hazardous situations.”
Josue Ramirez
Texas Low Income Housing Information Service
(956) 295-6868
Josue@texashousing.org
Texashousing.org
“A toxic plume is spreading through Pensacola’s drinking water aquifer because the Superfund Program is starved for money. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt must make polluters pay for cleanup though the Superfund Tax.”
Francine Ishmael, Executive Director
Citizens Against Toxic Exposure,Inc
(850) 432-2228
fishmael@cate.gccoxmail.com
Pensacola, FL
“We need a strong EPA with strong enforcement authority to ensure our Superfund Alternative Site cleanup will be protective of our health and our environment. Now is not the time to cut either EPA’s enforcement authority or community involvement in ensuring the best possible cleanup.”
Marilyn Welker
People for Safe Water
937-484-6988
mwelker@ctcn.net
Tremont City Barrel Fill – Ohio
“The Tar Creek Superfund Site needs a strong EPA that is fully funded if it is to ever finish our three- decades long cleanup.”
Rebecca Jim
LEAD Agency, Inc.
(918) 542-9399
leadagency@att.net
Tar Creek Superfund Site
“Superfund is the only chance we have at getting the Waste Pits fully cleaned-up before a major hurricane strikes our coast. The parties responsible for the Pits don’t want to clean them up as the EPA has proposed and we need the EPA to hold the companies responsible to protect our environment and future generations!”
Jackie Young
San Jacinto River Coalition
(281) 608-6213
jyoung@txhea.org
San Jacinto River Waste Pits Superfund Site
“All Americans deserve the right to clean air and clean water. Hold corporate polluters accountable and give our children a healthy future.”
Michele Baker,
Founding Member, New York Water Project
(518) 461-7270
michele.baker@
“Public health and constituent welfare need to become the top priority in all Superfund legislation to ensure that inexcusable events like those which occurred in Sellersville, Pennsylvania won’t ever happen again.”
Gregory Bulfaro
Sellersville x 3 / Sellersville Truth
(267) 227-8433
gbulfaro@aol.com
“Scott Pruitt’s plan to streamline the Superfund process in favor of cutting costs will lead to incomplete cleanups of contaminated neighborhoods, as demonstrated in the past at sites like MDI in Houston’s 5th Ward. Painted as a quick way to boost economic development, Pruitt’s recommendations are more akin to a fast track to injustice.”
Rosanne Barone
Texas Campaign for the Environment
713-337-4192
rosanne@texasenvironment.org
San Jacinto River Waste Pits
# # #
The Center for Health, Environment and Justice has been on the frontlines in the fight for environmental health for 40 years. We train and support local activists across the country and build local, state and national initiatives that win on issues from Superfund to climate change.
People’s Action Institute is a national organization of more than a million people across 29 states working for economic, racial, gender and climate justice – with a goal of reversing the growing economic inequality by building an economy that expands opportunity for low-income families.
“… it’s corporate villainy where folks are outsourcing the costs and the burdens of their economic enterprise onto others and privatizing all their profits,” Booker said at Mount Triumph Baptist Church in the heart of southeast Louisiana’s industrial corridor along the Mississippi River. “It is absolutely unacceptable to steal folks’ livelihoods, to steal folks’ health and, literally, drive down the cost of their land.”
Read the full story here: http://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/article_995ea5f4-5a8e-11e7-b1ab-476028b29dde.html
Dawn Chapman, Just Moms STL, had listened with surprise and skepticism as the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency vowed to clean up West Lake, the nuclear waste dump that has filled her days and nights with worry.
Read full article.
NAACP Florida State Conference Joins the NAACP Jackson County Branch to demand the Scott Administration deny the pending deep injection well permit. “The NAACP Jackson County Branch joins hundreds of citizens, community groups and elected officials in opposing a pending Waste Management permit by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Environmental injustice has a disproportionate impact on low income and rural communities in Florida and around the world. The ultimate goal for this well is to dispose leachate (garbage juice) into the ground. This technique will have a negative impact on the Florida Aquifer, thus resulting in irreversible damage to the communities’ water and health. Our community has raised too many questions and we won’t sit on the sidelines as we see environmental injustices in North Florida” says Ronstance Pittman, President of NAACP Jackson County Branch.
“The NAACP Florida State Conference is outraged at the Scott Administration’s pending decision after hearing from State Senator Gainer, the Jackson County Commission and local residents. This is yet another example of the egregious pattern of unsafe dumping of waste in low income communities and African American communities. In Jackson County, once again, another African-American community sits in peril, due to the too-often reckless practices of the waste industry,” says Adora Obi Nweze, President of NAACP Florida State Conference and member of the National Board of Directors.
Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities.
What a nightmare.
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt promised to restore Superfund and the EPA’ s land and water cleanup efforts “to their rightful place at the center of the agency’s core mission.” He made this announcement in April while visiting a site in Indiana where hundreds of families must relocate because it is unsafe to live there. When I heard the announcement, I was excited. Unfortunately, soon afterwards his action spoke louder. Pruitt is not being honest. But judge for yourself.
On May 12th Susan Bodine was nominated to be assistant administrator for the EPA’s office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. Qualified? Well in a way, if she was fighting for the polluters. She represented polluting industries as a partner at Barnes & Thornburg, LLP a law firm. Bodine represented the American Forest and Paper Association (AFPA) from 2011 to 2014. Members of the AFPA have hundreds of EPA enforcement actions against them, including violations of the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act. She defended these industries against EPA.
This is the classic revolving door appointment. Since the enforcement office handles negotiations between the companies responsible for the pollution and the EPA, Bodine would be able to decide how extensive some cleanups are — and how much polluters have to spend cleaning them. Some of those enforcement action will be against her former clients.
How does she feel about poisoned communities? In testimony before a Senate hearing on Superfund in 2014, Bodine said she didn’t think most problems with the program were due to a lack of funding. Instead she blamed some of the delays in cleanups on community members who block access to sites. “If the agency can’t get access to the site, they can’t do the cleanup,” she said, adding that she believed the agency was doing its best.
Superfund’s progress has slowed to a near standstill in recent years, not due to communities who want the best cleanup possible, after all they live there. No, the problem is due to a lack of funding. A tax on polluting industries originally paid into a fund for the cleanups expired in 1995, leaving regular taxpayers to pick up the tab when the government can’t identify a polluter — or when a polluter doesn’t have enough money to pay.
Since there are fewer clean up actions the number of people exposed to dangerous pollution has climbed. In 2010, there were 75 Superfund sites where the government had yet to bring toxic exposure to humans under control. By last year, that number was up to 121, according to the most recent EPA data.
This week there were two other significant announcements related to Superfund. The budget cuts and a new taskforce. Superfund budget was cut by a third, 330 million dollars. Enforcement efforts will be cut by 40%. How does Pruitt think he’s going to keep his promise to fulfill the program, move it front and center with less money and a lead attorney who has been on the other side of the table for years representing polluters.
Pruitt’s new Superfund Task Force is even more absurd. He chose Albert Kelly to chair the taskforce an Oklahoma banker who has no prior experience with the program or with environmental issues at all, according to his résumé. However, Kelly has donated twice to Pruitt’s campaigns in Oklahoma, has spent the past 33 years working at Spiritbank, served as its chairman, which is headquartered in Tulsa. The “core competencies” listed on his résumé, include motivational speaking, business development, and “political activity.”
Washington D.C. seems to get crazier every passing day. For all of you who care about our environment, public health and fairness, take the time to get involved. Together we need to talk with our representatives at the home offices and demand change. If you don’t think that representative is listening or supporting your core issues than find someone to replace them and work on that person’s campaign. We can’t whine our way through this insanity we must get out and take actions.
Categories
Longtime Dunmore Mayor Ousted
Lackawanna, PA –
“Borough Councilman Timothy Burke defeated Mayor Patrick “Nibs” Loughney in Tuesday’s Democratic primary by a razor-thin three-vote margin…”
One important issue brought to attention during the race was the expansion of Keystone Sanitary Landfill. Burke opposed the expansion and won the election, ousting the incumbent who had been in office for 24 years.
This story highlights the importance of running your own candidate in local elections and how every vote counts.
Read more here
Categories
OHIO’s 1st Human Rights Tribunal
The first human-rights and environmental-justice hearing ever held in Ohio took place in Athens Saturday. The hearing was part of a tribunal process on impacts of fracking as a human-rights issue.
Sixteen presenters from around Ohio testified to a panel of four citizen judges at the First United Methodist Church in Athens, providing more than six hours of testimony.
The event is part of the Permanent People’s Tribunal on Fracking, which is gathering testimony from around the world to deliver to the Permanent People’s Tribunal and the United Nations.
The Athens hearing, one of two planned for Ohio, was initiated by the Buckeye Environmental Network , and organized with support from Torch Can Do!, the grassroots group founded by residents living in and near Torch in eastern Athens County, and a grant from the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice. Torch is the site of one of the largest fracking-waste injection facilities in Ohio. Read more.
Soon after Erin Card moved to within two miles of the Radford Army Ammunition Plant in Virginia two years ago, she began to notice threads of smoke that occasionally rose above the heavily wooded site. She started asking about the source, and eventually was stunned by what she learned: Toxic explosives were being burned in the open air.
“It just seems crazy to me,” said Card, 36, who lives with her husband and their three young boys.
The open burning and open detonation of hazardous waste explosives is banned in many countries, including Canada, Germany and the Netherlands. Likewise, in this country, private industry long ago was forced to abandon the primitive disposal practice. Read more.