Is the Superfund Program Dead?

May 15, 2007 - Tucked away on the westernmost edge of the Florida panhandle, Escambia County is a Republican stronghold whose beaches attract droves of tourists each year, earning it the cheery tagline: "The western gate to the Sunshine State, where thousands live like millions wish they could."

But no paradise would be complete without a dirty little secret, and Escambia has that, too: For more than a decade, toxins from two of the county's now-defunct wood-preserving plants have gone largely untreated. At the site of Escambia Treating Co., 255,000 cubic yards of soil containing creosote and PCP lie under a tarp behind a chain-link fence. At least that much contaminated dirt has been detected in the neighborhood across the street, forcing residents to flee the area.

More . . .