Some members of Congress apparently do not believe there is much value in providing recreational fishing opportunities in the Grand Calumet River to our great-grandchildren.
Congress is considering three bills to reauthorize and amend the nation’s Superfund program. Each measure–House Bill 2727, House Bill 3000 and Senate Bill 8–contains industry-sponsored modifications to current law that could jeopardize efforts by Indiana and federal officials to restore degraded water quality and damaged fish and wildlife habitats. The damage is caused by the release of oil, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), heavy metals and other hazardous wastes into the Grand Calumet River and Indiana Harbor Ship Canal.
The proposed amendments subvert Superfund’s “polluter pays” principle by reducing the financial accountability of parties responsible for damages to natural resources such as wetlands, groundwater, fish, wildlife and plants due to hazardous waste contamination.
Under the provisions of the Superfund, officials with state, tribal and federal natural resource agencies are designated as public trustees and are given statutory authority to seek compensation from responsible parties for damage assessment and restoration costs.
Legislative proposals pending before Congress, however, would eliminate the authority for these trustees to assess the cost of damages or to consider the value of passing along to future generations the opportunity to use and enjoy these natural resources.
The proposed legislation also would exclude from the calculation of damages the value of preserving the option for members of the present generation to sue at some later date. For example, even though a person might someday desire to go bird-watching along the Lake Michigan shore, if he or she does not currently engage in this activity, the worth the person places on waterfowl and shorebirds–and the recreational opportunity provided by them–cannot be considered in calculating damages.
These amendments to Superfund would shortchange the public by preventing trustees from taking into account the full range of values of natural resources held in public trust. That would not only decrease the capacity to make the public whole for its losses at the Grand Calumet River-Indiana Harbor Ship Canal but also at scores of other locations nationwide.
There is nothing wrong with reasonable and responsible refinements of the Superfund program designed to improve its efficiency and effectiveness. But Congress must not abandon or diminish the fundamental principle that those who create the problem must bear the cost of fixing it.
Unfortunately, the bills currently under consideration fail to meet this test, and it appears that at least some members of Congress are willing to cater to desires of potentially liable industries at the public’s expense.
Perhaps, before taking action on these three bills, members of Congress should reflect on the stewardship philosophy of Theodore Roosevelt, who stated, “The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets, which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value.”
