The Environmental Protection Agency says 25 toxic waste sites in 15 states will be cleaned up as part of a $1 billion infusion to the federal Superfund program.

Twenty-five toxic waste sites in 15 states are to be cleaned up, and ongoing work at dozens of others will get a funding boost, as the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday announced a $1 billion infusion to the federal Superfund program.

The money is the third and last installment in the $3.5 billion allocated under the 2021 infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden. It will help clear a backlog of hazardous sites such as old landfills, mines and manufacturing facilities targeted by the 44-year-old Superfund program.

Long-contaminated sites slated for cleanup include a former smelting plant in East Helena, Montana; an old textile mill in Greenville, South Carolina, and a New Jersey beach area blighted by lead battery casings and other toxic material used to build a seawall and jetty nearly 60 years ago.

The Raritan Bay Superfund site in Old Bridge, New Jersey, is one of three Superfund sites in the state that will receive new funding. New Jersey is one of several states with more than one project included in the latest round of federal spending. Four sites in Pennsylvania, including the former Valmont Industrial Park in West Hazleton, will receive funding, as will three sites in California and two in New York.

  • Zorg@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    9·
    8 months ago

    Thanks Biden indeed!

    But, you know I may just be a humble earthling; maybe they should make it the law that companies have to pay for cleaning up anything they polluted?
    What with all the externalized costs

    • Hikermick@lemmy.world
      5·
      8 months ago

      I’ll bet most of these businesses are long gone. They were in operation before there was an EPA or regulations. The harmful effects of the materials they dealt with may have been unknown at the time. It sounds like there has been some progress with this idea though:

      The program languished for years because of a lack of funding but has been replenished after Congress included a “polluter pays” tax in the 2021 infrastructure law. The tax took effect in 2022 and is set to collect up to $23 billion over the next five years, said Rep. Frank Pallone, a New Jersey Democrat who pushed for reinstatement of the tax in the 2021 law.