Cleanup account faces $$ squeeze

State legislators are looking for ways to keep a state fund that pays for the cleanup of contaminated sites afloat before it is depleted this fall.

The $40 million Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund will run dry this September or October. The fund is used to clean up abandoned toxic dumpsites, pay the state’s portion of the federal Superfund program and pay for the state’s response to toxic chemical spills.

Initially, legislators were faced with a bill (SB 913) that would redirect $40 million annually from the Keystone Fund and Growing Greener bond to the fund. But the proposal didn’t sit well as critics argued the move equated to “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

“The Keystone Fund was then left alone because virtually no one in Harrisburg supported that transfer,” said state Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Avoca, who sits on the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. “But this fall we have to come up with an agreement how to fund the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund.”

Ideas to direct money to the fund include raising tipping fees to $6.50 per ton, taking the $40 million from the “Rainy Day Fund,” or holding those responsible for the contaminated sites to pay for the remediation themselves.

Carroll said he would be “hesitant” to support a hike in the tipping fees because garbage haulers could pass the cost on to customers. He did express support for obtaining the money from the $200 million Rainy Day Fund.

“It’s an important program that is certainly worthy of the money, especially to the people affected by the contaminated sites,” Carroll said. “We need to get this ironed out as soon as we get back in September.”

State Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, who also sits on the House Environmental Resources and Energy committee, said there wouldn’t be enough support to raise tipping fees to pay for the fund. Such a move, he said, could hurt small municipalities who are in long-term contracts with garbage haulers.

Yudichak also doesn’t favor raiding the Keystone Fund or Growing Greener for the fund money. He said there are quite a few sites in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties that depend on the fund, which is crucial to economical development.

“Our environment is closely tied to our economic survival,” Yudichak said. “I’d like to find a new, dedicated source of money for the hazardous cleanup fund, and we are in a time crunch to get something done because the money is going to run out.

“Unfortunately, this is the nature of business in Harrisburg – wait for a crisis and react. I’d rather be proactive.”

State Rep. Ed Staback, D-Olyphant, said raising tipping fees and raiding other funds to get the money both faced opposition in Harrisburg.

Staback’s solution is to hold those responsible for the contamination financially accountable.

“We have areas that are a mess and need to be cleaned up, but not at the expense of other environmental funds,” he said. “Somebody created these hazardous sites, and whoever caused it ought to be made to clean it up.”

Staback’s solution sits well with David Masur, director of PennEnvironment, who said he’s a strong proponent of the “polluter pays” concept.

Masur said he also supports the tipping-fee increase, noting that a number of the sites on the state’s hazardous cleanup list are landfills. He added the tipping-fee hike would target a number of out-of-state companies because 40 percent of the trash brought into Pennsylvania comes from other states.

“We’d be taxing people from other states to pay for a large part of the program,” Masur said.

“All of the entities that created this in the first place are going to lobby hard not to pay for it,” Masur said. “That’s the unfortunate political reality.”