The Superfund concept is an awesome idea however if it is not enforced then the idea cannot evolve into action. Making the polluters pay for their actions teaches them responsibility. However, sites that have been polluted by bankrupt or now non-existent companies now remain dirty or are cleaned at the expense of the tax payers. The ultimate irony in this situation is that the people who are being hurt by the pollution (through environmentally-caused diseases, asthma etc.) are paying to clean it up. Critics say that Superfund enforcers are too strict by requiring that any company involved should pay for the damages however if they don't pay, people that have no involvement with the pollution whatsoever have to pay, which seems like an injustice to them. Superfund is an important program and definitely needs to continue to ensure that all sites deemed unsafe are cleaned however the issue that needs to be resolved is how to pay for it. In my opinion, we should go back to 1st grade politics - if you made the mess, you clean it up.
The link that I will use is http://www.epa.gov/superfund/, the official Environmental Protection website devoted to Superfunds.
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