Currently, a large debate is brewing in Congress that affects each and every Iowan. A debate in which Representatives Ganske and Boswell will have a direct voice. It is a debate about Superfund, the law to handle our most toxic waste sites in the country.

One in four Americans lives within four miles of a Superfund site. These sites poison the land, contaminate the water and potentially cause cancer, birth defects, liver, brain and nerve damage, and other severe health problems. In Iowa, we have 17 Superfund sites and dozens more toxic waste sites.

The central principle of the Superfund is that the polluters who created the waste sites, not taxpayers, should pay for the cleanup of those sites. By recovering cleanup costs from polluters and by taxing polluting industries, Superfund ensures funding for the cleanups and encourages industries to dispose of their wastes more responsibly.

The Superfund tax on chemicals expired in December, 1995. Every day the Superfund tax is not collected, $4 million for cleaning up hazardous sites is lost. Opponents of Superfund are holding up restoration of the tax hoping instead to pass legislation that would roll back the polluter pays principle.

During the 105th Congress, several proposals have been offered to “reform” Superfund, including H.R. 3000, H.R. 2727 and H.R. 2750. These bills would rollback the polluter pays principle, weaken cleanup standards at hazardous sites and slow cleanups and increase litigation.

It is critical that both Representative Ganske and Representative Boswell oppose these bills and similar efforts. The Superfund law should be strengthened, not weakened.

Kelly Wilkening

Freshman

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