EPA LETS HUNDREDS OF SUPERFUND SITES GO UNCLEANED FOR DECADES: Federal environmental officials began putting horribly polluted sites on the Superfund list in 1983. Now we find, thanks to the Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group’s Ethan Barton, that hundreds of Superfund sites go years, even decades, with nothing being done to rectify their environmental damage.

Barton analyzed nearly 14,000 sites in EPA’s Superfund database and found that “of the 818 superfund sites where EPA cleaning hadn’t yet begun, 771 had been waiting for at least five years. In fact, 154 of those sites were among the first added to the NPL in 1983 — when areas were first added to the list.” The National Priority List includes the most serious threats to public health, as defined by EPA.

Barton found another 864 sites were cleanup actions had begun or had been completed but the news is no better: “The agency began cleanup efforts at 460 superfund sites, but only after waiting more than five years on average following their NPL designation — of those, 15 waited longer than 20 years.” Barton said EPA officials weren’t helpful when he asked questions about the Superfund data, typically taking multiple to respond or not responding at all.