The Nation : Report Faults Superfund Enforcement

The Reagan Administration is violating the toxic cleanup and human health requirements of the 1986 law that was intended to revive the Superfund program, environmental groups charged. “The Administration has simply decided not to enforce parts of the new law which it actively opposed during the reauthorization debate,” three organizations said in a report on the restructured program’s first year. The report, by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, the National Campaign Against Toxic Hazards and Clean Water Action, said the Environmental Protection Agency “is systematically ignoring” the law’s mandates to find permanent solutions to waste dumps and to ensure that cleanups meet tough health-protection standards. The agency was also criticized for not implementing a provision allowing communities to obtain grants to hire experts to review EPA cleanup plans.