Responding to toxic waste

Monday, April 20, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.

One advantage of the federal economic stimulus package is that it can be used to help clean up the environment. That was made clear Wednesday when the Environmental Protection Agency announced that $600 million of stimulus money will be used on new or expanded cleanup efforts at 50 hazardous waste sites nationwide.

These sites are part of the Superfund program, which began in 1980 to address uncontrolled toxic waste left behind by the mining, chemical and other industries. What these locations have in common is that they pose a threat to human health and the environment.

The good news is that the stimulus money will not only help the environment, but it will also produce jobs tied to the cleanup effort.

The bad news is that it will barely put a dent in the amount of money it will take to clean up all the sites on the Superfund list.

As the Associated Press reported, 1,264 sites need to be cleaned up. The problem can be traced to 1995, when Congress failed to renew an excise tax on hazardous chemicals and petroleum products, thereby cutting off a key Superfund revenue source.

The result is a fund that has become so depleted that cleanup activity has slowed considerably.

One location that is not getting stimulus money is the Carson River Mercury Site in Lyon, Storey and Churchill counties, the only Nevada entrant on the Superfund National Priorities List. This site includes mercury-contaminated soils, waterways and wildlife along a 50-mile stretch of the river caused by mining activity that started in the late 19th century.

It is our desire to see President Barack Obama and Congress build on the momentum of the stimulus money by reviving the Superfund revenue stream so all eligible cleanup locations, including the Carson River Mercury Site, receive the attention they deserve.