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Across the country, some 14,000 chemical plants, manufacturers, water utilities and other facilities store and use extremely hazardous substances that can injure or kill employees or residents in nearby communities if suddenly released. Approximately 450 of these facilities each put more than 100,000 people in harm’s way. |
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Industries across the United States pump billions of pounds of toxic chemicals into our air, land, and water each year, many of which can cause cancer and other severe health effects. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program provides Americans with the best information about toxic chemicals released in their communities. Unfortunately, in December 2006 the Bush administration limited the public’s right-to-know about this pollution by giving some polluters a free pass on reporting their toxic emissions. |
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To address the public health threats created by toxic waste sites, Congress established the nation’s premier toxic cleanup program, the Superfund, in 1980. Congress designed a funding structure for Superfund that placed the financial burden of cleaning up toxic contamination on the polluters by collecting three established fees from polluting industries. Collectively, the three fees, known as the Superfund “polluter pays” fees, relieved regular taxpayers from paying for toxic cleanups by compelling polluting industries to take financial responsibility for cleaning up toxic waste sites. |
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