EPA Superfund

Overview of Superfund

Comprehensive Environmental Response,

Compensation and Liability Act

Shahid Mahmud, Environmental Engineer

United States Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Overview

Origin of CERCLA (Superfund Law)

Key provisions of CERCLA

Key provisions of the National Oil and Hazardous

Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP)

Overview of the cleanup process under

Superfund

10/9/2012 2U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The Origin of CERCLA

Public awareness of

abandoned dump sites

Two sites drew significant

media attention:

Love Canal in Niagara

Falls, New York

“Valley of the Drums” in

Brooks, Kentucky

10/9/2012 3U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Key Provisions of CERCLA

Approved as law in 1980

Provides legal authority to respond to a

release of:

A hazardous substance

Any pollutant or contaminant that may present an

imminent and substantial endangerment

Excludes oil releases

10/9/2012 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 4


Creates Hazardous Substance

Trust Fund

Holds those Potentially

Responsible Parties (PRPs)

liable

Cleanup costs

Natural resource damages

Inventories and prioritizes sites

Establishes a National Priorities

List (NPL)10/9/2012 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 5


Authorizes three types of response actions:

Removal Action

Remedial Action

Enforcement Action

Encourages participation of states and tribal

governments

Provides opportunities for community

involvement



PlanNational Oil and Hazardous Substances

Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP)

Blueprint for responding to oil spills and hazardous

substances releases.

All Superfund response actions must be consistent with

the NCP. The NCP is found at 40 Code of Federal

regulations (CFR) Part 300

http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-

idx?c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title40/40cfr300_main_02.tpl

NCP provides step-by-step process for conducting

Superfund response actions.

http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title40/40cfr300_main_02.tpl



Removal Actions under Superfund


Three types of removal response actions:

1.Emergency Response (Action within hours)

2.Time-Critical (Action within 6 months)

3.Non-time Critical (Planning period more than 6

months)

On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) investigates site to

determine extent of damage and the appropriate

actions to take during the response effort.

Emergency Response

Coordination and implementation of a

wide range of activities to ensure timely

response measures for hazardous

substance and oil releases.

Includes large-scale national emergencies

such as homeland security incidents.

Emergencies range from small-scale

spills to large events requiring prompt

action and/or evacuation of nearby

populations.


Removal Responses

Common at Superfund Sites when contamination

poses an imminent threat to human health and the

environment.

Removal actions can supplement long-term cleanup

actions at NPL sites

Classified as either time-critical or non-time-critical

depending on the extent and type of contamination.

Decision to conduct removal documented in an

Action Memorandum.


11

Long-Term

CleanupClean/

Closure

Short-Term

Cleanup

Removal

Community

Relations

Site Reuse

Enforcement/Cost Recovery

Site DiscoverySite

Assessment

Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS)

Site Listing

Remedial

Overview of Superfund Response Process

Site Listing Process - Hazard Ranking

System (HRS)

Used to identify sites for the National Priorities List (NPL)

Numerically based scoring system that uses information from initial

investigations

HRS assesses relative potential of sites to pose a threat to human health

and the environment

Ranks sites based on their relative risk among sites evaluated

Cut-off score of 28.5 was established for placing sites on the NPL

An HRS evaluation is performed following procedures defined in the HRS

regulation (40 CFR Part 300 Appendix A, part of the NCP)

1210/9/2012 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Major Phases of Remedial Process

NCP defines five major phases: Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study

Selection of Remedy

Remedial Design

Remedial Action (Site Cleanup)

Operation and Maintenance

Overall goal of remedy selection: Protective of human health and the environment

Maintain protection over time

Minimize untreated waste


Overview of Remedial Investigation/

Feasibility Study (RI/FS) Process

RI/FS supports remedy selection

Remedial Investigation (RI) provides: Site characterization

Baseline risk assessment

FS develops and analyzes remedial action

alternatives Develop and screen alternatives

Detailed analysis of alternatives

• Nine Evaluation criteria are basis of remedy selection


Remedy Selection

Proposed plan informs the public on the

preferred cleanup option

Public reviews and provides comments on the

proposed plan

All relevant documents are maintained in the

site information repository


Record of Decision, Remedial Design and

Remedial Action

Record of Decision Official decision document on remedy selection

Technical, legal and public document

Remedial Design Develop final plans and specifications for

selected remedy

Remedial Action Contract selection

Remedy Construction


Enforcement and Liability

Enforcement principle: those responsible for

hazardous waste sites pay for or perform cleanup.

CERCLA provides criteria under which a party is liable

for cleanup costs.

EPA identifies those responsible for contamination at a

site and negotiates with them to do the cleanup.

EPA can do the cleanup itself and recover its costs

from the responsible party.


Post Construction Completion

Ensure that Superfund cleanup

actions provide for the long-term

protection of human health and

the environment.

Activities include: operations

and maintenance (O&M), Five-

year reviews, remedy

optimization, institutional

controls, and deleting sites from

the NPL.


Operation & Maintenance (O&M)

Ensure that equipment is installed and

that the remedy performs as intended.

Site responsibility transfers to the

States for Fund lead sites.

EPA is responsible for monitoring and

ensuring that the work is adequately

performed.


Five-Year Reviews/Site Deletion

Five-Year Reviews

Evaluate the implementation and performance of a

remedy to determine whether it remains protective

Required by CERCLA / NCP when hazardous substances

remain on site above levels which permit unrestricted use

and unlimited exposure.

Site Deletion

When cleanup levels are met and Operation and

Maintenance is complete – Site is deleted from NPL


Superfund Site Reuse and Redevelopment

Over 600 Superfund sites have been returned

to productive use under the Superfund

Redevelopment Initiative

Some mine site examples include:

- Anaconda Smelter Company, Montana

- Midvale Slag, Utah


Summary

CERCLA provides legal authority to respond

to a release of hazardous substances

NCP provides the blueprint for responding to

oil spills and hazardous substances releases

Program designed to address both short and

long-term actions


Thank You!!

Contact Information:

Shahid Mahmud

Team Leader, EPA Abandoned Mine Lands Team

Office of Site Remediation and Technology Innovation

703-603-8789

[email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

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