Superfund/EPA

Historical Note

Congressional investigations and hearings into the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grew out of routine budgetary oversight of the hazardous waste laws being carried out by the Agency. Chief among these laws was the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, commonly known as the Superfund act. A key provision of this act was the establishment of the “Superfund” trust fund, by means of a special tax on the chemical and petroleum industries, for cleaning up abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.

Investigations leading to the six-year continuing investigation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Administrator and the key agency appointees began in 1982. Allegations of mishandling the $1.6 billion Superfund monies began almost immediately after the establishment of the fund. In mid-September 1982, Congressman John Dingell of Michigan requested any and all information on the ongoing clean-up of three Superfund sites: Tar Creek, Oklahoma, Stringfellow Acid Pits, California and Berlin and Farro, Michigan His investigation was for the use of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation. The EPA signaled the first troubles in responding to this request stating in a letter that some documents were being withheld as they contained “enforcement-sensitive information.” As a result Dingell’s subcommittee issued a subpoena for withheld documents and this was followed by a subpoena for all documents on EPA priority sites under the Superfund Act by Congressman Elliot Levitas , Chairman of the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the House Public Works and Transportation Committee.

Eventually, six congressional panels were probing allegations of political manipulation, “sweetheart” deals, conflicts of interest, perjury, and destruction of documents by EPA employees. Their investigations focused on two particular officials – EPA head Anne M. Burford (aka Anne Gorsuch), and Rita Lavelle, the head of EPA’s waste management program.

As the White House Counsel staff, the Department of Justice and President Reagan started actually reviewing the material from the EPA, concerns about the agencies actual handling of the Superfund surfaced. At this point, President Reagan asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to start its own investigation of the situation at the EPA.

As a result of viewing all the documents, Rita Lavelle, Assistant Administrator for the Waste Management program appeared to have conflicts of interest with her management of the Superfund monies, especially of the Stringfellow California waste site. She was asked to resign and when she refused to do so was fired by the President on February 7, 1983.

The material contained within the Reagan Library holdings consists of White House responses to requests for material, including photocopies of material provided to Congress and the Department of Justice; chronologies of the investigation; notes on meeting with EPA official and DOJ officials; press conferences; press clippings on the entire investigation; and final reports.

There was a further investigation and Independent Counsel regarding this matter in the second administration. The investigation was focused on the Department of Justice’s role in the decision to withhold EPA material from Congress. If the White House records in this investigation dealt with the Superfund, they are include with this topic guide.