Expert: EPA superfund cuts could "really hurt the program"

The Senate Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight heard Monday from experts on superfund sites and the risks of President Trump's proposed overall 30 percent cuts to the EPA, and 25 percent cuts to the Superfund program.

• Katherine Probst, former senior fellow at Resources for the Future: "A 30 percent cut in one year is huge, that is going to really hurt the program...it's very hard to absorb huge cuts quickly."
• Environmental attorney Steven Nadeau said of the cuts: "Whatever happens we can make it better, and we'll just have to live with it."
• Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.): "This is the job of government, to protect people, yet we seem to have a declining sense of urgency to deal with this crisis."
• Subcommittee chair Sen. Mike Rounds (R-Wyoming): 1,336 sites in the country currently identified as "national priority for cleanups" pose "a great risk to human health and environment."