As bad as EPA can be with individuals, they are far worse with companies. My dad loves to tell a story about how a site that was safely handled by the old rules became "unsafe" overnight when EPA's rules changed. Mobil was forced to dig the site up, aerosolize most of the hazardous chemicals, and then move the remainder to a different site.

Just like that couple from Northern Idaho found out when they tried to build a home. That whole thing was a mess, as the EPA wanted to totally prevent them from building on their property despite no wetlands in the area. Even more egregiously, they refused to address the matter at all - in court or otherwise. This was what the Courts smacked them for ultimately: that they were basically denying any kind of due process.

My dad was the first environmental engineer for Mobil. He called the EPA's Superfund program "graduate school for lawyers". Most people think the IRS is thuggish. Deal with the EPA sometime, and you'll think that the IRS is not so bad.

In the choice as to whether or not to keep it or abolish it, I agree whole-heartedly that it - like MANY other Federal bureaucracies - need to be terminated by legislative fiat. They granted these powers, they can certainly take them back. The only problem is that it is unlikely that they will do so. And so the common people suffer under their tyranny.

They're limited purpose has expired. They need to go away.

In its limited purpose of trying to provide for cleanup of toxic sites, I can see it. The problem is that (as with any other Federal Bureaucracy) the only way for them to grow and be able to demand more money is to usurp authority and pretend they have jurisdiction where they don't. And with the backing of a reckless Administration and lawless Department of Justice, they have power they might not otherwise have had.

This is an agency that needs to be abolished.