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EPA Update
EPA Enforcement Figures Released
EPA has launched “Return to Use,” a new initiative to assist community
programs working to reuse cleaned up Superfund sites while ensuring that human
health and the environment are fully protected.
EPA will be partnering with 11 communities throughout the U.S. Projects are
located in California, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee and
Utah.
EPA believes there could be several hundred sites around the country where the
Return to Use initiative can help return former Superfund sites to productive
use by helping to remove physical or institutional barriers to community use,
such as fences at a site or legal deed limitations restricting access.
The Return to Use initiative focuses on sites that were cleaned up early in
the life of the Superfund program, before EPA’s current emphasis on considering
the anticipated future use of the land while cleanups are in progress. At many
of these sites, the remedy construction is complete and the property is considered
ready for reuse, yet remains vacant.
At some of these vacant sites, removing or modifying unnecessary barriers with
the cooperation of property owners and federal, state and local partners can
lead to the site’s reuse as green space, recreational, or commercial facilities,
all without posing any increased risk to human health or the environment.
Returning cleaned Superfund sites to beneficial use not only allows local communities
to reclaim lost landscapes, it also removes the stigma sometimes associated
with fenced and vacant Superfund sites. People who are responsibly reusing sites
have a stake in protecting the site against destructive activities such as vandalism,
trespassing or off-road vehicle racing that can damage the remedy, and against
midnight dumping, which can result in recontamination. Click here for more information
on the Return to Use initiative from the EPA’s Web site. http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/recycle/rtu/index.htm
EPA reports significant progress cleaning up America’s highest-priority
contaminated sites in the national Superfund program in its annual summary of
accomplishments.
The summary, covering Fiscal Year 2004 (which ended on Sept. 30), confirms that
EPA completed work at 40 sites, for a cumulative total of 926 sites having been
completed — fully 61 percent of the top priority sites ranked on the National
Priorities List (NPL).
Last year, EPA conducted 678 ongoing cleanup projects at 428 sites (includes
EPA lead, potentially responsible party lead and federal facility sites).
Superfund listed 11 new sites and proposed 26 sites to be added to the NPL.
As the Superfund program matures, so too does the size, complexity and cost
of sites under or ready to begin construction. In the year that ended on Sept.
30, more than 52 percent of the budget for long-term, ongoing cleanup work was
committed to just nine sites.
Despite these constraints on Superfund resources, EPA was able to provide $104
million to start cleanup work at 27 projects across the country — 18 more
projects than last year.
Underscoring EPA’s commitment to the “polluter pays” principle,
the Agency secured $680 million in cleanup commitments and cost recoveries from
the parties responsible for toxic waste sites.
To help address funding challenges, in the FY 2004 and FY 2005 budget requests,
the Bush Administration has asked for a $150 million increase above the FY 2003
budget.
Click here for more information on EPA’s latest Superfund accomplishments.
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/action/process/numbers04.htm
Does Superfund still work? Read one writer’s opinion. Link to op/ed this issue
EPA Enforcement Figures Released
EPA enforcement actions concluded in fiscal year (FY) 2004 will reduce a projected
one billion pounds of pollution and require cleanups estimated to total a record
$4.8 billion — significant increases from last year.
Tom Skinner, EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement
and Compliance Assurance, said, “We are getting significant, real-world
pollution reductions through mechanisms like injunctive relief — pushing
companies to install more-effective pollution controls — and supplemental
environmental projects.”
EPA estimates that 3.4 million cubic yards of contaminated soil and sediment
and 9.5 million cubic yards of groundwater will be cleaned up, 1,300 acres of
wetlands will be protected, and the drinking water of 4 million Americans will
comply with EPA standards. Of the 4,257 cases concluded by EPA in FY 2004, 83
percent resulted in actions to bring facilities into compliance with environmental
laws.