Bush administration cuts clean-up funding - NYT
Date: 02-Jul-02
Country: USA
The cuts will likely mean work comes to a halt at some of the more polluted sites in the U.S., according to the paper, increasing uncertainty over when the work will proceed and who will pay for it.
Sites affected by the cuts include a manufacturing plant in Edison, New Jersey, where the herbicide Agent Orange, used in the Vietnam War, was produced, as well as several chemical plants in Florida and two old mines in Montana.
Two Congressional Democrats, Representatives John Dingell of Michigan and Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey, gave the report to the paper after asking the environmental agency's inspector general for a copy.
The two congressman represent states with heavy concentrations of Superfund sites.
The report is the first public listing by the environmental agency of where it intends to cut Superfund spending.
The administration had indicated it would reduce spending from the special fund that pays for cleaning up sites where the original polluter has gone out of business or is otherwise unable to pay for remediation.
