Old factories may stick taxpayers with cleanup costs

From USA Today: Making polluters pay for cleanups is a cornerstone of environmental laws. But in the case of old smelter sites, some firms have either reorganized or used bankruptcy to shed financial responsibility.

PHILADELPHIA – Several companies manufactured lead for more than 140 years at a massive factory surrounded by homes in the city’s Port Richmond area: John T. Lewis & Bros., National Lead, Anzon and others. The factory is long gone, and tests show dangerous levels of lead in nearby yards – putting children at risk of being poisoned by playing in the dirt.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/19/lead-smelter-cleanup-liabilities/1766747/