Largest river cleanup in history launched on Hudson. (On First Reading).
In what could be the most ambitious river cleanup in the nation's history, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)--supported by New York Governor George Pataki and 32 members of Congress from New York and New Jersey--has ordered General Electric (GE) to spend $460 million to dredge toxic polychlorinated biphenyls...

Misty River heads for some fast water.
Byline: Paul Denison The Register-Guard If the name Misty River makes you think of a Mc- Kenzie River drift boat floating lazily in the early morning fog, think again. Think of four smart, talented, clear-eyed women in an outboard at full throttle. They're going places....

Get the facts on Baxter.
Byline: The Register-Guard Should people who live near the J.H. Baxter wood-treating facility in West Eugene be worried about the health effects of the vapors from the plant? No one knows - and the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority will have a hard time finding out. Yet...

EPA will not fund equipment needed to test creosote vapors.
Byline: Diane Dietz The Register-Guard A federal health agency recommended that vapors coming from the J.H. Baxter creosoting plant in west Eugene be tested for irritants and cancer-causing agents. But another federal agency - the Environmental Protection Agency - turned down a local air pollution...

Air pollution from phosphate fertilizer production. (Death in the Air).
In the early predawn hours when the air is still and moist, phosphate fertilizer factories are often shrouded in an acidic haze. Temperature inversions form airy bubbles of noxious, acidic fumes. Lights from the factories seem to blaze through the hellish mist, and the lemony taste of sulfuric and...

Revising the Superfund: this time let's get it right.
Most observers would agree that the current Superfund law is among the most poorly crafted and counterproductive statutes of recent years. Because of its perverse and conflicting incentives, parties are inclined to litigate and delay, rather than clean up. However, the law and its follow-on regulations, which led to...

Superfund sites and birth defects.
A new audit finds that the Superfund program, which has rehabilitated only about 100 of the more than 1,400 hazardous waste sites on its list, has become seriously bogged down. The evaluation of each nonfederal site that was added to the Superfund list last year took an...

Brownfields dilemma.
A VOLUNTARY OPTION The paradox of the Superfund law is that it aggravates the problem that it's supposed to cure. So states are attempting new and better ways to clean up polluted sites. One of the great ironies of hazardous waste cleanup in this country is how a...

Toxic landfill may cause babies to be tiny.
The Lipari landfill in southwestern New Jersey once headed the Environmental Protection Agency's national list of Superfund sites needing cleanup. Unlined, this 15-acre burial ground was supposed to accept only municipal refuse. During the landfill's 13 years of operation, however, it illegally accepted 2.9 million gallons of liquid industrial...

Bald and beautiful.
Eagles just love Rocky Mountain Arsenal wildlife refuge You'd be hard-pressed to find a less likely redoubt for bald eagles than this--a Superfund site surrounded by metropolitan Denver. Yet here they are, 75 or more, perched in the tall cottonwoods flanking First Creek. A couple dozen human...