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As the new home of RIPIRG's environmental work, Environment Rhode Island can be contacted regarding this news release.

Six Superfund sites in Rhode Island, including the Centredale Manor Site and sites in 16 other states could be affected by a slow down in the pace of cleanups and less EPA oversight of clean up activities conducted by polluters, according to a report released April 15, 2002 by RIPIRG. The report, one in a series of events leading up to Earth Day on April 22, called on the Bush Administration to put public health and environmental quality before the interests of corporate polluters. The group also announced a national newspaper advertisement running today.

"On April 15, average Americans pay their taxes, but the Bush Administration lets polluters off the hook tax-free," said Kate Strouse of RIPIRG. "The Bush Administration should make polluters, not taxpayers, pay for toxic waste cleanups."

One in four Americans lives within four miles of a Superfund site, and eighty-five percent of these sites have contaminated groundwater. These sites contain toxic chemicals, such as arsenic, lead, mercury and PCBs, which cause cancer, brain damage, and birth defects. EPA still has hundreds of high priority Superfund sites to clean up, with many other contaminated sites being discovered every year.

"The Bush administration has slowed down the pace of cleanups by more than 50 percent," said Grant Cope of RIPIRG, "The administration should tell the public which sites have been affected by this slowdown and increase the pace of cleanups to protect public health from dangerous toxic waste sites."

Every Administration since 1980 has supported Superfund's polluter pay taxes, but the Bush administration opposes their reauthorization. The taxes expired in 1995. "Polluters have enjoyed a $4 million a day tax holiday, totaling more than $10 billion while the burden of cleanup costs borne by innocent taxpayers has increased to an estimated $700 million in 2003," said Mr. Cope.