The number of toxic waste sites cleaned up under the Superfund program declined for the third straight year, according to a recent EPA report.
In fiscal year 2003, EPA completed work at just 40 toxic waste sites, compared with 42 in FY 2002 and 47 in FY 2001. In the last four years of the Clinton administration, EPA completed an average of 87 cleanups per year.
“We just have fewer dollars to start new projects,” Marianne Horinko, an EPA associate administrator who oversees toxic cleanup, told the New York Times.