Superfund Task Force delivers recommendations to expedite clean-up of contaminated sites
On May 22, 2017 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Scott Pruitt, commissioned the Superfund Task Force upon discovering that there were over 1,330 Superfund sites in the United States, some of which had been listed for decades. The Task Force was charged with providing recommendations about how these sites could be remediated and put back into productive use on an expedited timeframe.
The Task Force looked at how the EPA could restructure the cleanup process, with the following goals:
- Expediting cleanup and remediation
- Re-Invigorating responsible party cleanup and reuse
- Encouraging private investment
- Promoting redevelopment and community revitalization
- Engaging partners and stakeholders
The Task Force report, released yesterday, identified 42 recommendations that can be initiated without legislative changes during the next year. These recommendations and other innovative ideas will be considered and applied to Superfund Sites, with priority given to sites on the National Priority List (NPL).
A summary of the proposals is as follows:
- High attention will be given to the Administrator's keen focus on sites that have seemingly taken too long to remediate.
- Third party investments in NPL cleanups will become an operational way for the agency to accelerate cleanups and promote reuse of NPL sites. This will be done by identifying reuse candidate sites that are selected to pilot innovative tools and incentives.
- NPL sites with agreed upon remedies will be prioritized for faster completion and deletion from the list.
- NPL sites in the assessment and investigation stages will be expedited by applying new technologies and approaches.
- Efforts to secure responsible party commitments on timely, high quality cleanup will be invigorated; increased inducements and deterrents will be used to encourage quick negotiations and cleanup commitments.
- Development of strong stakeholder relationships is key to EPA's remediation success.
According to news reports, Administrator Pruitt has ordered EPA regional heads to report back to the chairman of the task force in 60 days to identify high-risk sites and to describe when such risks are expected to be controlled
The full task force report can be found here.
How can GHD help?
GHD has developed a Site Strategy Review process tailored to identify site impediments and opportunities at complex sites, which are driving the Superfund Task Group's findings. GHD's data visualization capabilities and digital solutions provide innovative tools to support remedy optimization, reuse and Stakeholder engagement, which are also envisioned by this report. For more information, please contact:
Ian Richardson | ian.richardson@ghd.com
Colleen Costello | colleen.costello@ghd.com
Roy Thun | roy.thun@ghd.com