Site to Superfund List
For Immediate Release
September 14, 2012 Contact Jeff Tittel, 609-558-9100
Sierra Club Applauds EPA Proposal to Add Woolwich Site to Superfund List
The Sierra Club applauds the US Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to add the Matlack Inc site in Woolwich to the Superfund program.This site should be added as it is in an environmentally sensitive area and cleaning it up is critical to protecting groundwater and critical habitat.
"This site is in an environmentally sensitive area and including it in the Superfund program is the only way to adequately protect it and ensure the site will be cleaned up.This site is close to a major fly way for migratory birds, important public open spaces, groundwater sources, and critical habitat.This is exactly the type of sites that have to be cleaned up. Not all Superfund sites are in urban areas, some are in environmentally sensitive areas and that is in the case here," *said Jeff Tittel, Director of NJ Sierra Club*. This proposed addition underscores the importance of adding the DuPont site in Pompton Lakes to the Superfund National Priorities List.
"The EPA will bring in its knowledge and funding to ensure the site will be cleaned up and the people will be protected," said Jeff Tittel. This announcement today underscores the importance of reauthorizing funding for the Superfund program.If it weren't for the Superfund Program many sites in New Jersey would still be contaminated. New Jersey has more Superfund Sites than any other state in the nation affecting the health of our residents and environment. The Superfund Tax helps to fund clean ups through the Superfund Program. In 2010 Congressman Pallone introduced legislation that would reinstate the Superfund Tax to help fund clean ups since the Superfund Program is broke. The Superfund Tax, which expired in the 90's, was a small fee on oil and chemical companies to pay for the clean ups that they created. The failure to have adequate funds means it takes longer to clean up sites leading to more toxics going into ground water and neighborhoods. The delay of clean ups hurts our environment and puts people at risk.
"We need to make sure adequate funding to clean up these Superfund sites is in places.It has taken much longer even decades to clean up the toxics at these sites than it should have because of the lack of federal funding. With the lapse of funding for Superfund instead of the polluters paying for the clean up the tax payers are paying with not enough money in the program. We need to reinstate the Superfund Tax so that we have adequate funds to clean up sites," said Jeff Tittel.
-- Kate Millsaps Conservation Program Coordinator NJ Chapter of the Sierra Club 609-656-7612