Superfund identifies and then cleans up areas considered possibly harmful to human health.
Reformers say the program has gone too far and accomplished little.
Spencer Michels examines how these issues affect one town in California. Click here to go to the Superfund Basic Research Program . Mining for gold more than a century ago was what built the little town of Sutter Creek in California's motherload. That's the federal program designed to clean up hazardous waste and spills of toxic substances which have been designated threats to public health. Superfund passed by Congress in 1980 depends for its clean-up money mostly on a tax from the chemical and petroleum industries, source of much pollution.