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Superfund
Related Information
The 1978 discovery of toxic chemicals beneath the suburban infrastructure
of Love Canal, in Niagara Falls, New York first illuminated the
consequences of environmental neglect. For decades, many American
businesses had disposed of hazardous waste improperly, contaminating
tens of thousands of sites nationally, including nearly 250 within
Region 2 alone. Accidents, spills, and leaks of hazardous materials
resulted in land, water, and air that pose immediate and potential
threats to public and environmental health.
Citizen reaction to these localized threats led Congress to establish
the Superfund Program in 1980, an initiative designed to locate,
investigate, and clean up the most hazardous sites nationwide.
Superfund is officially called CERCLA, or the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. The EPA administers
the Superfund Program in cooperation with individual states and
tribal governments.
The national EPA office that oversees management of the program is the Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI). The sites dealt with under Superfund are listed on the NPL, or National Priorities List. Superfund constitutes a crucial environmental and economic precedent within American legislative history.
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