Lead polluters get punished

Journal Article · Fri Aug 09 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States)

OSTI ID:5606734

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice last week cracked down on 36 US companies for polluting the environment with lead. EPA slapped fines totaling more than $10 million on 12 of the offending companies, and Justice filed 24 civil complaints. Hank Habicht, deputy administrator of the EPA, said that his agency's initiative comes after 8 months of intense - and presumably successful - efforts at locating and documenting lead pollution in the soil, air, and water supply. Most feared has been lead's ability to damage the intellectual development of children. This caused the agency, Habicht said, to look beyond the usual suspect - lead in the water supply - to lead-laced dirt in residential areas. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is using the EPA contamination data as well. Twenty US attorneys have been assigned to pore over the federal environmental statutes, including the Clean Water Act and the Superfund Law, in order to file civil complaints.

• OSTI ID: 5606734
• Journal Information: Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States), Vol. 253:5020; ISSN 0036-8075
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
LEAD
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
COMPLIANCE
COST
LAWS
POLLUTION CONTROL
POLLUTION REGULATIONS
US DOJ
US EPA
CONTROL
ELEMENTS
METALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
REGULATIONS
US ORGANIZATIONS
540120* - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
540220 - Environment
Terrestrial- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
540320 - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
290300 - Energy Planning & Policy- Environment
Health
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