EPA Plans Cutbacks

In news that could spell trouble for residents of Hometown and other communities plagued with toxic pollution, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to close labs, cut its scientific staff and reduce regulatory oversight, according to news reports.

The proposed budget cuts were detailed in an internal memo dated June 8 and obtained by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a government watchdog group. Lyons Gray, the EPA's chief financial officer, was the memo's author.

"The decisions we make will be critical, difficult and will have long-term consequences," Gray wrote.

There are several EPA-managed Superfund toxic waste sites in the Hometown area: McAdoo Associates north of the village, Eastern Diversified Metals off of Lincoln Avenue, and Tonolli east of the village near Nesquehoning.

Earlier this year, the EPA announced plans to cap the EDM site, where a now-shuttered metal-reclamation facility left behind an enormous pile of plastic waste contaminated with heavy metals, PCBs, dioxin and other dangerous pollutants. The plan is widely opposed by local residents, who wanted the material removed to a properly lined landfifll.

Local residents are also pressing federal and state officials to take another look at the McAdoo site, where some fear that contamination may be migrating from the area and affecting groundwater.