Making Polluters Pay

The Obama Administration has declared national support for another of Congressman Blumenauer’s signature priorities: reinstating the Superfund. Reviving this program will hold polluters accountable, restore the environment, and create new jobs in engineering, construction, and development.

The Superfund is a federal program that investigates and cleans up the nation’s hazardous waste sites. The fees financing the Superfund expired in 1995, though the program has continued to clean up these sites with taxpayer dollars. However, lack of funding has slowed down the pace of cleanups. In order to avoid what Congressman Blumenauer has described as a cycle of “stall, study, and sue,” the fees need to be reinstated.

In an unprecedented announcement, the Environmental Protection Agency called upon Congress today to support “Polluter Pays” legislation mirroring the “Superfund Reinvestment Act” authored by Congressman Blumenauer. Passing this legislation would not only take the taxpayers off the hook for cleaning up the hazardous waste left by irresponsible parties, but also rehabilitate property for development and address community health issues like contaminated groundwater.

Reinstating the Superfund fees has been a topic of Congressman Blumenauer's “Rebuilding and Renewing America” plan presented all across the country. Of particular interest has been the Portland Harbor site between Swan and Sauvie islands that was added to a priority list for cleanup in December of 2000. Currently, Oregon is home to 17 Superfund sites that, thanks to Congressman Blumenauer’s leadership, could finally see a renewed cleanup effort.