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The Birth of Superfund (continued)
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"People at Love Canal were driven from their homes. In Pittston, PA, people lived for days with the fear of breathing cyanide gas. In Youngsville, PA, PCB contaminants have infiltrated the soil about 100 yards from that town's water supply. There are thousands of Love Canals, Pittstons and Youngsvilles all over America." |
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| Senator John Heinz (R-Pennsylvania) |
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Need for New Legislation
On April 22, 1980, the Nation celebrated the 10th anniversary of Earth Day. Thousands took to the streets to reaffirm the country's commitment to protecting the environment. But the celebration was tempered by an event that took place the previous evening.
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Elizabeth, New Jersey (April 21, 1980) -- An explosion in a warehouse ignites a fire that burns 24,000 barrels of chemicals, including illegally stored toxic wastes. The fire burns for 10 hours -- sending a thick black plume of smoke and ash over a 15-square mile area and raising fears of widespread chemical contamination. The site is completely destroyed and there are reports of burning waste drums launching 200 feet through the air and bursting into cascades of flashing light. Public schools in Elizabeth, Linden, and Staten Island are ordered closed as State authorities urge residents to shut all doors and windows and remain inside. A 72-hour ban on commercial and sport fishing, covering a 40-mile radius, is also imposed. |
In an April 23 editorial, the New York Times commented that the 10th anniversary of Earth Day "got off to a poisonous start" because of the fire in Elizabeth, New Jersey, but that "it, more than any other Earth Day observance, focused attention on the problem of getting rid of toxic wastes." The Times further commented that "[t]he dump in Elizabeth is one of those 'ticking time bombs' that environmental officials keep warning us about" and that the accident in New Jersey underscores "the need for long-pending Federal legislation to provide a 'super-fund' for cleaning up hazardous waste sites whose owners can't be found or who shirk responsibility." The Times editorial ended by warning: "The Elizabeth site was one of the worst. It is by no means one of a kind."
Abandoned chemical warehouse in Elizabeth, New Jersey
By 1980, the decades-old legacy of industrial waste was clearly presenting the Nation with a major problem. EPA's Thomas C. Jorling declared the Carter Administration's position that, "[r]eleases of hazardous wastes from abandoned and inactive disposal sites are perhaps the most serious environmental problem facing the Nation today." Campaigning for the Presidency, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) called the disposal of hazardous waste "a public health nightmare of extraordinary dimensions" causing millions of Americans to take "unwitting, involuntary but potentially serious health risks every day, simply because of where they live."
Although the problem was serious, in 1980, the country had few means to address it. Individuals could sue in court for injuries suffered from industrial wastes, but this was costly and time-consuming -- and awards were uncertain. More important, any remedy was after-the-fact. The common law did not provide a means to prevent hazardous waste injuries from happening in the first place.
Some of the Federal legislation passed in the wake of the first Earth Day helped to fill this gap -- but only partially. RCRA provided EPA with authority to sue owners of inactive hazardous waste sites to prevent "an imminent and substantial danger to human health or the environment." However, this required EPA to identify a person or business in the position to stop a spill from happening. Since many of the sites had been abandoned long ago, such an individual or business often could not be identified. The Clean Water Act established a control program for certain spills of oil and hazardous substances, but this was limited to discharges into navigable waters. The Clean Water Act did not cover spills of hazardous substances onto soils -- and only certain designated hazardous substances could be regulated.
| "For decades, we have been disposing of these chemicals without adequate safeguards. We've paid very little attention to where these wastes have gone, in part because we weren't aware, and in some cases out of ignorance, and in some instances out of sheer carelessness." | ||
| Douglas M. Costle EPA Administrator |
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