The word that's knocking around my skull today is gumption: initiative or resourcefulness. As in, "It takes a lot of gumption to clean that superfund site." It sounds so weird. Like something on a car. "My gumption is out of alignment."
The German equivalent, at least I think it is, is die Initiative (in-ish-"e"-ah-TEE-va). Or, die Eigeninitiative.
Superfund makes me think of toxic waste and that makes me think of hazmat (hazardous materials) suits. The suit you would wear if you were cleaning up a superfund site. Whenever someone is cleaning out our office refrigerator I suggest they wear a hazmat suit.
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