Just some excerpts (from an environmental news reporter I receive in hard copy, no link), but it has driven home some of the ramifications in a way I hadn’t expected. Our clients may or may not like these developments...

EPA has redirected 40% of its criminal investigators away from previous work to focus on terrorism issues, including anthrax cleanup. So far, the EPA has spent $7 million, but there is no estimate of what more the agency will have to spend on cleanup and other activities. There is concern within EPA that there might not be enough money in the Superfund Trust Fund to continue cleaning up toxic sites after the anthrax-related cleanup is complete. No cleanup staff have been pulled from any of the more than 1,200 superfund sites, but all of EPA’s 10 regional offices are reprioritizing the superfund sites in their regions. EPA is also working with the OMB and Office of Homeland Security to assure EPA will receive a portion of the $40 billion supplemental funding that Congress authorized to address the 9/11 terrorist attacks. EPA is also urging legislation to allow EPA to recover some of the costs of cleaning up the anthrax-contaminated buildings; currently under Superfund, EPA is not able to recover the costs of cleaning up biological agents, such as anthrax. The Senate has indicate that it will pay EPA for “some” of the cleanup costs for the Hart Senate Building.

On a side note, my department head gave us a brief lecture last week on the current status of pollution liability insurance. Turns out that, since 9/11, the insurance companies have added a universal exclusion for microbial pollution. (Being the good doomer that I am, I'm the only one in the meeting who noticed that particular fine print.)

-- Anonymous, December 12, 2001