REGULATING AND REDUCING POLLUTION - Marine Pollution: What Everyone Needs to Know - page 215

organic contaminants, pathogens, and metals, which formed a
layer of black muck on the bottom where few organisms could
live. In 1987, after over 60 years of operation and amid public
protest, the dump site was moved to deeper water 106 miles
from shore, where the wastes could disperse more effectively,
but the controversy continued and a federal law was passed
banning all ocean dumping. On June 29, 1992, the New York
Times reported: “Late this afternoon the ocean barge Spring
Brook will slip quietly into the East River and head to sea, car-
rying for the last time one of America's least loved cargoes: 400
tons of New York City's processed sewage. It has been four
years since Congress voted to ban the common practice of
using the ocean as a municipal chamber pot, and with the
Federal deadline set for tomorrow, New York is the only city
that still does it. For environmentalists and many politicians,
the final barge journey will be a moment of triumph, one they
say will make the planet a cleaner, healthier place.”
Superfund is the federal government's program to clean up
hazardous waste sites. It is also enforced by the EPA. Officially
known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), it was
enacted after the discovery of toxic waste dumps in places
such as Love Canal and Times Beach in the 1970s. It allows the
EPA to clean up such sites and to compel responsible parties
to either perform cleanups or reimburse the government for
doing so. The process is complicated and includes assessment
of sites, placing them onto a national priorities list, and estab-
lishing and implementing cleanup plans. This is a long-term
process, and some sites have waited over 30 years to be cleaned
up. Part of the reason is that establishing liability for the con-
tamination and determining who is responsible for paying for
the cleanup leads to lengthy lawsuits. There are often many
responsible parties, some of which may be companies that
have since gone out of business or have been swallowed up
by other companies (which are still considered responsible
for cleaning up the mess). While most Superfund sites are on