Pelosi: 'Polluters Should Pay Their Fair Share'

January 12, 2004

Washington, D.C.-House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement in response to a January 7 special report by the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General that found that funding shortfalls prevented EPA from moving forward with some Superfund cleanup projects in fiscal 2003:

'The EPA Inspector General's report reveals that Superfund spending fell at least $175 million short last year. As a result, EPA has postponed or slowed many Superfund cleanups, including at least 29 sites in 17 states. Meanwhile, one in every four Americans lives within four miles of a Superfund site.

'These former industrial facilities are so contaminated that they threaten public health and the environment, but the Bush Administration prefers to cater to the interests of big corporations instead of meeting the needs of the American people.

'Superfund cleanups used to be paid for in part by a special tax on polluting industries. The tax expired in 1995, however, and the Republican Congress and the Bush Administration will not even consider renewing it. The Bush Administration would rather force innocent taxpayers to bear the burden than make polluters take responsibility for their actions.

'We must clean these sites up as quickly as possible, and polluters should pay their fair share.'