Sherwood Boehlert: “H.R. 5175 will end Superfund litigation for the overwhelming number of small businesses across America. That is what we…”

“H.R. 5175 will end Superfund litigation for the overwhelming number of small businesses across America. That is what we are here about. As most of my colleagues know, I am a very strong proponent of Superfund reform. Superfund remains a program with flaws, flaws that need to be corrected. This is not to say that changes have not been made, adjustments have not been made, that some progress has not been made; but we need to correct the flaws, and exempting small business is one of the most glaring flaws in the whole bill. My Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment have held 13 hearings on the Superfund program. I have heard from dozens of witnesses from small businesses one horror story after another. Let me give you an example. Mr. Lefelar testified before us. He owns Clifton Adhesive. He was brought into litigation in the GEMS Superfund case in New Jersey because his company's name was written on a ticket for a toll bridge that a waste hauler had in his records. That was it, one toll bridge ticket from 1974. He had no records from 1974 to prove that he did not send waste to the GEMS site, so he was stuck in litigation for 8 years and spent $450,000 in legal fees. Here is what he told the committee: "The pressure was unbelievable for me. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were being mentioned, possible litigation personally, lifetime personal assets were at risk, loss of home. I was really becoming desperate at this time.…”