by Lois Puglionesi
HAVERFORD -- Democratic candidate in the 7th Congressional District
Joseph Sestak made a campaign stop on Rittenhouse Circle Thursday, a
block away from the Havertown Superfund site. About 40 residents and
supporters gathered to hear him speak. Also present were state Rep.
Greg Vitali, Democratic Party Vice Chair Paul Scoles, and Gene
Karpinski, President of the League of Conservation Voters, who gave
Sestak his group’s endorsement.
Describing
the league as "an independent political voice for the environment,"
Karpinski praised Sestak as a "leader, champion, and person of vision"
who "cares about the environment."
Karpinski
said he’d witnessed former President Jimmy Carter sign the original
Superfund law, which called for polluters to collectively pay for
cleanup of toxic waste sites like the one in Havertown.
With
the expiration of that policy in 1995, "taxpayers have to pay for
cleanup, which means not much cleanup gets done," said Karpinski. "We
need a leader like Sestak to come to Washington and say we need to make
polluters pay..so we, the taxpayers, don’t."
Karpinski also cited the need for a new energy policy emphasizing clean energy, renewables, and efficiency.
Sestak
said he would support re-establishing the small tax on oil and chemical
companies that served as a primary source of the Superfund budget
between 1980 and 1995.
He
faulted opponent U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, R-7, of Thornbury, for voting
for legislation in 2001 to reduce EPA’s ability to prosecute polluters
by 11 percent.
Regarding
the Havertown site, Sestak asked, "Where has Curt Weldon been? What has
he done to help move this site forward, to have proper cleanup done?"
Sestak said he would provide leadership to expedite the project, which has been on the National Priorities list since 1983.
Sestak
also vowed to "fight hard to get proper funding so we aren’t using a
secondary approach to a health issue ..I would press for a complete
approach to this that best takes care of cleaning it up totally. We
have accepted a second choice here by covering it over," Sestak said,
referring to a synthetic cap installed in 1996.
"This
is not excellence. If you want to accept a second-rate approach, Curt
Weldon’s your man. If you want someone fighting for a better approach,
I’m your guy," he said.
Weldon
campaign spokesman Michael Puppio referred to the remarks as "typical
pre-election pandering and distortions." He said Weldon is "supportive
of environmental causes and aware and involved in the Havertown
Superfund issue."
The
Ocean Champions conservation group recently endorsed Weldon, the lead
sponsor of the Oceans Conservation, Education and National Strategy for
the 21st Century Act.
Weldon
has been a leader in raising fuel efficiency standards, according to
Nathan Willcox of PennEnvironment. But with a 40 percent voting record,
he votes against the group’s priorities the majority of the time,
Willcox said.
