[CPEO-BIF] New York State: The price of cleanup

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Paying the price of pollution
Federal, state funds for cleanup is a drop in a bucket to clean an ocean of toxic waste

By Brendan J. Lyons 
Albany Times-Union (NY)
July 1, 2016

The Patroon Creek bubbles east from Colonie into the city of Albany, barely noticeable as it wends beneath Interstate 90 and a rail line, passing by fading industrial parks and struggling neighborhoods on its way to the Hudson River.

Few of the thousands of commuters who pass over the creek daily likely know of its history as a toxic courier, nor of what Patroon Creek exemplifies: how even the most aggressive efforts to clean up contamination usually fall victim to agonizing delay and inadequate funding, often leaving poisons to imperil upstate New York neighborhoods for decades.

"Superfund is running on fumes; if we had more resources we would see quicker cleanups," said Judith Enck, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's administrator overseeing Region 2, which includes New York and Puerto Rico. She added that it's also the polluters who sometimes "slow walk" and deliberately delay the cleanups. "They make it as lengthy a process as possible because they want to put off paying the cost."

As a result, toxic risks recognized long ago continue to confront New Yorkers throughout the state, a legacy of the lax dumping standards that characterized America's industrial sites for generations. Patroon Creek is but one example of the often slow response to citizens' health fears, a practice that's been repeated at Superfind sites around the region.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-local/article/Paying-the-price-of-pollution-8336793.php

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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