The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is looking for answers on how to make less costly and speed up cleanups at the nation’s most contaminated sites — two problems nearly as old as the Superfund program itself.
Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) announced the committee will hold a hearing this week to identify ways to boost efficiencies in EPA’s Superfund program.
Congress established Superfund in 1980 as a program that authorized EPA to lead remediation efforts at a growing quantity of hazardous waste sites and send the bill to the parties responsible for creating the pollution.
As of last month, there were 1,340 sites awaiting full remediation on Superfund’s National Priorities List. Nearly three-quarters, or 986, of those sites were listed last century.
