May 12th, 2008 · Pitcher, Okla., was once among the nation's largest Superfund sites. It was a town prone to cave-ins, from years of overzealous mining. The federal government was in the process of buying out the people who hadn't left yet. Over the weekend, Pitcher was destroyed by a tornado, and it's unlikely anyone will rebuild.
Mar 12th, 2008 · Chemical giant W.R. Grace has agreed to pay the government $250 million to help clean up asbestos contamination around its mining operations near Libby, Mont. The fine is the largest ever ordered under the government's Superfund cleanup program.
Feb 11th, 2007 · Onetime mining boomtown Picher, Okla., sits on one of the largest, most polluted Superfund sites in the country. The thousand or so residents who haven't yet abandoned the town are finally being driven out by the threat that mines under the city could collapse without warning.
Jan 24th, 2007 · Melissa Block talks with Andrea Peacock, journalist and author of Libby Montana: Asbestos and the Deadly Silence of an American Corporation. Peacock talks about the recent passing of Les Skramstad, a former vermiculite mineworker who drew attention to asbestos-related disease among residents of Libby, Montana. Skramstad became the first Libby resident to win a jury award against the mine's owner, W.R. Grace Company, and later lobbied the government to assist asbestos victims and declare Libby a Superfund site.
Sep 18th, 2006 · There's an unusual bi-partisan effort to get the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to release information about certain Superfund cleanup sites, pieces of land that have been deemed too toxic for development. The EPA says sharing some information about the sites could discourage companies from cleaning up their environmental messes.
Aug 28th, 2006 · An Indian tribe in Washington state has successfully sued a company whose smelter in Canada is fouling the Columbia River in the United States. The court says U.S. Superfund law applies to foreign polluters, if the pollution affects U.S. territory. The ruling is being appealed.