![\"\"](\"http:\/\/copia.lunarservers.com\/~srphs0\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/wascovich_hole-in-earth.jpg\")
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A\u00a0Superfund site<\/a>\u00a0is an abandoned hazardous waste site that poses enough risk to human and environmental health that the Environmental Protection Agency has stepped in to lead a clean-up effort. It\u2019s also the name of an actual fund that no longer has any money in\u00a0it* A blindingly bright star bursts into view in a corner of the night sky \u2014 it wasn’t there just a few hours ago, but now it burns like a beacon.\u00a0That bright star isn’t actually a star, at least not anymore. The brilliant point of light is the explosion of a star that has reached the end of its life, otherwise known as a supernova.<\/p>\n Supernovas can briefly outshine entire galaxies and radiate more energy than our sun will in its entire lifetime. They’re also the primary source of heavy elements in the universe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Supernova<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n *\u00a0the Superfund law originally paid for\u00a0toxic waste<\/a>\u00a0cleanups through a\u00a0tax<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0petroleum<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0chemical industries<\/a>. The chemical and petroleum fees were intended to provide incentives to use less toxic substances. Over five years, $1.6 billion was collected, and the tax went to a\u00a0trust fund<\/a>\u00a0for cleaning up abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. The last\u00a0full fiscal year<\/a>\u00a0(FY) in which the\u00a0Department of the Treasury<\/a>\u00a0collected the tax was 1995. At the end of FY 1996 the invested trust fund balance was $6.0 billion. This fund was exhausted by the end of FY 2003; since that time funding for superfund sites for which the potentially responsible party (PRP) could not be found has been\u00a0appropriated by Congress<\/a>\u00a0out of general revenues. \u2013http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Superfund#Provisions<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A\u00a0Superfund site\u00a0is an abandoned hazardous waste site that poses enough risk to human and environmental health that the Environmental Protection Agency has stepped in to lead a clean-up effort. It\u2019s also the name of an actual fund that no longer has any money in\u00a0it* \u2013 http:\/\/www.epa.gov\/superfund\/about.htm \u00a0 A blindingly bright star bursts into view in … <\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\u2013 http:\/\/www.epa.gov\/superfund\/about.htm<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n![\"What](\"http:\/\/i.space.com\/images\/i\/000\/004\/210\/i02\/080603-iod-supernova-02.jpg?1292268585\")
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This Chandra X-ray photograph shows Cassiopeia A (Cas A, for short), the youngest supernova remnant in the Milky Way.
Credit: NASA\/CXC\/MIT\/UMass Amherst\/M.D.Stage et al.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.logoschristian.org\/spacewalk.jpg\")
\u00a0![\"\"](\"http:\/\/tarcreekfilm.com\/tcblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/rolling-a-barrel.jpg\")
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