The Nation: The High Cost of Cleaning Up

Though environmentalists are understandably loath to say so, the cost of satisfying their demands would be unrealistically high. The Pennsylvania coal mining town of Ramey learned that lesson not long ago, when it received a stern order from the commonwealth's department of environmental resources: Stop untreated waste from flowing into nearby Little Muddy Creek and begin building a new $1.3 million sewer system. Only 80 of Ramey's 500 residents have regular jobs; the rest get by on Social Security, welfare, unemployment insurance, and other forms of Government aid. Last year the assessed...