OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR FRANK R. LAUTENBERG
SUBCOMMITTEE ON SUPERFUND, WASTE CONTROL AND RISK ASSESSMENT
HEARING ON STATUS OF SUPERFUND SITES
TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 2000

Mr. Chairman, during the years I've served as the ranking Democrat and before that, Chair-- on this Subcommittee, I've been very involved in each of the many proposals for Superfund legislation, going back to the successful reauthorization of the program in 1986 and legislation in the 103rd Congress which came very close to passing.

I've also been closely watching the program itself, and I'm very pleased at all the progress it's made.

Just about half of the Superfund sites still named on the National Priorities List are completely cleaned up. And final cleanup plans have been approved for more than 1,000 other sites. Over 90 percent of sites on the National Priorities List have cleanups underway or completed.

Superfund has been particularly effective in moving quickly to eliminate the most dangerous threats to the public. The program has performed about 6,000 emergency removals at hazardous waste sites -- each one a serious health risk.

In addition, there have been advances in getting settlements to have the responsible parties perform the work and in reducing litigation. In this era of the declining federal expenditures, it has been more important than ever to have those responsible for the contamination pay for cleaning it up, and stretch Superfund dollars to cover as many abandoned sites as possible.

Since 1992, 70 percent of all cleanups have been performed by these parties.

Those are really encouraging advances, and I'm looking forward to hearing what today's witnesses will have to say on the progress that's been made cleaning up specific sites in their areas.

Now that Superfund is really hitting its stride, we need to keep that momentum going. And I want to encourage suggestions on how we can accomplish that.

One area where I am very interested in taking action is on Brownfields and I particularly look forward to hearing from our witnesses on their views on Brownfields and whether they feel it would be helpful.

I also want to note that this is a significant occasion--Senator Chafee's first hearing as Chair of this Subcommittee. I look forward to working with our Chairman and newest member of the Subcommittee.

I have been very encouraged by his interest in working towards legislation which could be enacted into law, and hope that this hearing is just the first step in a very productive year working together on bi-partisan projects.

I am looking forward to hearing from our distinguished witnesses today, and note that they include a mayor from my own home state, Mayor Bollwage.

Mr. Bollwage is in his seventh year as mayor of Elizabeth, the fourth largest city in New Jersey. And he's been very involved in projects that reuse contaminated land including a megamall being built on the site of a former municipal landfill.

Mayor Bollwage also was co-chair of the Conference of Mayors Brownfields taskforce last year. And he's worked with other cities to encourage the development of abandoned, contaminated properties across the country.

Properties that will become a major source of new jobs and new life for our inner cities, thanks to the kind of vision that Mayor Bollwage and people like him bring to this issue.

So I welcome him to this hearing and I thank all of you for coming.