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.
How much of that is going to lawyers that will put the people responsible for the pollution in jail?
Very little. But on the bright side, most of the money does go to actually remedy the highly polluted areas that qualify for Superfund status.