Communities At Risk:
The Sierra Club Superfund Report
How the Bush Administration is Failing to Protect People's Health at Superfund Sites.
New Report Details Health Threats at Superfund Sites Across Country
 The Bush administration’s failure to protect Americans’ health from toxic waste pollution is documented in this new report on the Superfund toxic waste cleanup program released today by the Sierra Club. The report breaks down state-by-state the Superfund sites across the country where human exposure to toxic pollution and groundwater pollution is either not under control or where insufficient data on threats exist.
 The report is based on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) performance indicators that show that the task of protecting people’s health and water supplies from toxic chemical contamination is far from complete.
The report finds that human exposure to health-threatening chemicals is not under control at 111 Superfund sites. At another 199 Superfund sites, EPA has insufficient data to determine if migration of groundwater pollution is under control.
Americans are paying twice: once with their health and again with their taxes. There is a better way. The Bush administration could help solve these health threats and tax burden by supporting the polluter-pays principle to recreate a stable funding source for the Superfund program.
Download the report. (3mb PDF file, 37 pages)
Top photo: Children frequently ride bikes and play within yards of the Jennison-Wright
Superfund sites in Granite City, Illinois, one of the worst hazardous waste sites in the nation.
Bottom photo: Inside the fence at the Jennison-Wright Superfund site, where budget cuts have slowed cleanup.
Photos: Jessica Frohman/Sierra Club collection; all rights reserved.
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