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Conclusion

Twenty years after the incident at Love Canal, America's biggest corporations, led by General Electric, are still shirking their duty to clean up hazardous waste sites they helped create. Instead, they are funneling tens of millions of dollars to congressional candidates and sending an army of lobbyists to the Capital and State Houses across the nation to secure rollbacks and waivers from Superfund, while pushing "regulatory reform" legislation that will severely hamper the ability of EPA and other agencies to set strong health and safety standards and protect the public.

But there is a precedent for Congress ignoring the well-funded polluter agenda and passing strong toxic waste legislation. Many of the same industries seeking to roll back Superfund now, either directly, with legislative "riders," or via "regulatory reform" legislation, opposed the original Superfund in 1980, and the strengthened reauthorization of Superfund in 1986. Members of Congress listened to the public rather than the special interests and voted to make polluters pay to clean up our air, our land and our water.

The proper way for Congress and America to honor the 20th Anniversary of Love Canal is to strengthen, not weaken, the Superfund program.

 

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