Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Waste management · United States · 2025

Republic Services subsidiaries lobbied on Superfund and federal cleanup funds

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 2 insufficient · 1 not measured · 1 unclear See the gaps

Two Republic Services subsidiaries spent about $180,000 a year on average lobbying on Superfund rules and federal cleanup funding, Waste Dive reported. The reported link to the West Lake Landfill radioactive site is not verified; what is at stake is who pays to clean that site.

What?
Two Republic Services subsidiaries lobbied on Superfund rules and federal cleanup funding, spending about $180,000 a year on average. Waste Dive
Where?
Federal lobbying in the United States; the West Lake Landfill is in Missouri, but its link to the subsidiaries is not verified.
When?
Lobbying over several years; sector lobbying for 2025 reported 11 June 2026; donations in the 2024 election period. Waste Dive
Who?
Gained
  • Bridgeton Landfill and Rock Road Industries — Sought Superfund rules, landfill inspection and FUSRAP funding through lobbying Waste Dive
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Lobbying by two landfill subsidiaries of Republic Services on federal Superfund, inspection and cleanup-fund matters. Waste Dive
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Waste Dive reported on 11 June 2026 that US waste, recycling and wastewater companies spent more than $6.5 million on federal lobbying in 2025, above the 2009 peak and more than double 2019.

The same report said Bridgeton Landfill and Rock Road Industries, both Republic Services subsidiaries, lobbied over several years on Superfund rules, landfill inspection and funding for the FUSRAP federal cleanup fund for radioactive sites, at about $180,000 a year on average.

Waste Dive reported in October 2024 that the sector gave $11.05 million in campaign donations in the 2024 election period, and that $8.2 million of it came from one donor linked to Southern Waste Systems.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the two subsidiaries are among the responsible parties for the West Lake Landfill Superfund site in Missouri, which holds radioactive waste.
    • Unclear Reported but not verified: the Teamsters union, which is in dispute with Republic, put West Lake spending at $219 million and liabilities at $342 million in a 2013 report.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: an EPA plan for the site was put at $205 million, with options between $259 million and $415 million.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not say whether the subsidiaries' lobbying targeted West Lake, how cleanup costs are shared today, or whether the site has moved to the FUSRAP programme.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Terms used on this page

    Institutions

    EPA
    The US Environmental Protection Agency.
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