well, how else do you expect those CEO's to sock away all those millions?

February 26, 2002

The Superfund toxic waste cleanup program was founded under the

slogan " the polluter pays " and got its name from the vast financial

reserves in the account. Now both the slogan and the name are

misleading; the Bush administration has announced that it will not

reinstate corporate taxes to boost the dwindling funds in the

account, which means the majority of the cost of cleanup will be

picked up by taxpaying citizens. Superfund is used to clean up

" orphan sites " -- those where the polluter cannot be identified or

cannot pay, as well as for emergency cleanups. In 1995, under

industry pressure, Congress let the taxes that fund the Fund expire;

the Superfund coffer has since declined from a high of $3.8 billion

in 1996 to a projected $28 million next year. Over roughly the same

period, taxpayer funding of Superfund cleanups increased from $250

million (about 21 percent of the overall fund) in '94 to a projected

$700 million next year (more than 50 percent of the fund).

straight to the source: New York Times, Katharine Q. Seelye, 24 Feb 2002

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