Yesterday, November 22, 2005, the federal EPA issued a press release stating the accomplishments of the Superfund cleanup program during Fiscal Year 2005. To quote EPA:
... EPA completed work at 40 sites, for a cumulative total of 966 sites with work completed -- 62 percent of the top priority sites ranked on the National Priorities List. EPA conducted 665 ongoing cleanup projects at 422 sites (includes projects led by EPA, projects led by potentially responsible parties and federal facility sites). EPA funded new work at 17 projects across the country. Superfund also continued to prepare for future cleanup efforts by listing 18 new sites and proposing 12 sites to be added to the NPL.
More interesting stats from the press release:
As the Superfund program matures, so does the size, complexity and cost of sites under or ready to begin construction. In FY 05, 50 percent of the budget for long-term, ongoing cleanup work was committed to 11 sites. Even so, EPA was also able to provide $70 million to start cleanup work at 17 projects across the country.
Underscoring EPA's commitment to the "polluter pays" principle, the agency secured private party commitments of more than $1.1 billion in FY 05. Of this amount, potentially responsible parties agreed to conduct more than $857 million in future response work, and to reimburse EPA for $248 million in past costs.
Yah, I never thought of how cuembrsome the Superfund process is. But apparently, it's a complex system: The EPA first conducts a preliminary inspection, which includes interviewing residents and conducting field samples. This information is used to develop a "hazard ranking score" to determine how severe the conditions are at the dump and nearby areas. If the conditions are really bad, then the EPA will conduct a full investigation to measure the extent of the contamination and health risks to residents. A report is subsequently written based on the investigation, which also includes a plan to improve landfill conditions. This report is then presented to the general public (most likely at a Town Hall meeting) for review. With public approval, the landfill goes into a "Remedial Design and Action" phase to improve the dump and area conditions. Depending on the landfill conditions, operators are given a deadline (usually a few years) to improve the situation. If the dump does not meet EPA standards by the imposed deadline, it is shut down. In addition, there's a 5-year follow-up review to make sure landfill operators have continued to comply to EPA standards.Wow, these Superfund sites are no joke! I think the take-home message is to make sure the dump meets EPA standards from the start!!
Posted by: ELif | May 03, 2012 at 06:13 AM