Jeffords Presses Whitman on Vermont Superfund Site

April 8, 2003

Jeffords Presses Whitman on Vermont Superfund Site

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. Jim Jeffords, I - Vt., today said that the Bush Administration's failure to give EPA the resources it needs to clean up the most toxic of the nation's hazardous waste sites contributed to the emergency situation at the Elizabeth Mine Superfund site located in the towns of Strafford and Thetford, Vermont.

Jeffords pressed the Elizabeth Mine case with EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman at a Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee hearing today.

"Elizabeth Mine is one of only seven sites on the National Priorities List that received no funds in 2002. Had this Administration fully funded the Superfund program and renewed the Superfund fees, the current emergency could likely have been avoided," Jeffords, who is the ranking member of the EPW Committee, told Whitman.

Last month the EPA alerted the residents of Strafford and Thetford that the abandoned copper mine posed a potential threat to nearby homes and the environmental integrity of the West Branch of the Ompompanoosuc River, which flows into the Connecticut River. A report from the EPA stated that a rapid spring thaw could result in a "slope failure and tailing flood wave" of up to 1 million cubic yards of contaminated mill tailings at the Elizabeth Mine Superfund site.

"While I applaud the efforts of the regional EPA officials, because of the Bush Administration's neglect of the Superfund program, EPA was not able to begin stabilization measures last year that would have prevented the current emergency. Instead, EPA is forced to spend over $400,000 on emergency and temporary measures to stabilize the tailing pile that would otherwise not have been necessary. This is what happens when you cut corners with environmental protection," said Jeffords.

Jeffords is a sponsor of the "Toxic Clean-Up Polluter Pays Renewable Act," which would reauthorize the long-expired Superfund tax, a user fee levied against industries that generate pollution.

Originally signed into law in 1980, Superfund is the federal program for the clean-up of hazardous waste sites. The program has made it possible to clean-up 840 of the worst toxic waste sites in the country and has forced companies and industries to better manage pollution and waste. At the heart of the law is the commitment to ensure that the polluters responsible for the contamination, and not the general public, pay for the cleanup.

In the mid and late 1990s, Superfund cleaned up an average of 86 sites per year, but this number has since fallen by more than fifty percent in the last two years. The EPA completed construction on only 42 sites in FY 2002, less than the 75 it had projected and far less than the 87 achieved in FY 2000. More than 1,200 toxic waste sites on the Superfund National Priority List still await cleanup, while more wait to even be listed for Superfund cleanup.

There will be a public meeting for the residents of Strafford and Thetford with the EPA, State and other officials on Wednesday, April 9, 2003 at 7 p.m. at Barrett Hall in South Strafford.