EPA’s Policy of Superfund Sites Redevelopment into Recreational Facilities: The Success of Chisman Creek

Joint Base Cape Cod (JBCC) is located on Cape Cod. The JBCC is recognized as a Superfund site in 1989 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The base contaminated the groundwater in the surrounding towns. “Contaminated areas were the result of chemical/fuel spills, fire training activities, landfills, and drainage structures (cumulis.epa)”. The site is currently being cleaned up by the National Guard Bureau and the Department of the Air Force. The Air Force is cleaning one part of the base under Superfund. The Army is cleaning the other part under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The EPA is overseeing that everything is being cleaned to their set standards. Currently the Air Force holds public meetings to explain the results and new

cubic yards of contaminated soil make this site the one of the largest Superfund projects (EPA, 2013).

Assessments began to take place in the mid 1980’s, shortly after the site made the National Priorities list in 1983. Relevant standards and guidance levels were used to measure the effect of the Helen Kramer Landfill. The initiation of the EPA’s remedial investigation and feasibility study deemed the nature of the Helen Kramer landfill as an extreme risk to the environment, characterizing the site “by randomly placed, uncompacted, and uncovered refuse, with numerous settlement cracks which vented methane and water vapor” (2). According to the EPA, several million gallons of chemical wastes and over two million cubic yards of solid waste were estimated to have been disposed of at the landfill (2). Studies were performed by the EPA, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, federal natural resource trustees in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to evaluate the onsite and nearby environmental effects due to the landfill. During these studies, contaminants were detected in air, sediments, and aquifers, including high levels of volatile organic compounds and heavy metals in the air and sediments. VOCS and heavy metals expose humans to carcinogens, developmental toxicants, and reproductive toxicants. The assessments also detected numerous contaminants such as (but not limited to),

Prior to the late 1950s the site was used as an excavation pit for sand and gravel. The quarry was subsequently used for the disposal of waste materials from 1950 until 1966. 10 acres of the 28-acre site has been used as a disposal area for several hazardous waste contaminants that included volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, tetrahydrofuran, toluene, vinyl chloride and xylene; other organics such as phenols and PCBs as well as lead. The main area of contamination is in the southern half of the 10 acre area which encompasses about 6 acres which

1) The remedy chosen must attain a degree of cleanup that assures the protection of human health and environment. 2) The hazardous substances that will remain after the cleanup, they must meet the applicable and/or relevant and appropriate requirements under federal and state law (ARARs). 3) The remedy chosen must utilize permanent solutions and alternative treatment technologies or resource recovery technologies to the maximum extent applicable. 4) There must be cost effective response, taking into consideration total long-and short-term costs of the actions. And 5) It must be in accordance with the NCP to a practicable

After researching Superfunds, I found that dangers to the environment are much closer to home then one may think. In fact, I found that, in Ohio, Butler County was in the second highest risk category for contamination by Superfunds. Butler County is home to three superfunds: the Chem Dyne Corporation, the Skinner Landfill, and the

The importance of comprehensive site investigations and getting the right report, and by an EPA accredited auditor can be seen in the court case Charben Haulage Pty Ltd v Environmental & Earth Sciences Pty Ltd (2004) FCA 403. In this case Caltex had obtained development consent from the local council to decommission a suburban service station and remediate it to residential standards. A condition of the consent was that an auditor accredited by the EPA would sign off the completed decontamination.

Health and Safety Executive (n.d.2) explain five steps of risk assessment that are ‘identify the hazards, decide who might be harmed and how, evaluate the risks and decide on precautions, record your significant findings, and review your assessment and update if necessary’.

The Tar Creek Superfund site is located in Ottawa Country, in northeastern Oklahoma. This superfund site covers five municipalities in its boundary, the site covers approximately 40 square miles. Two towns are situated in the middle of the superfund site, Picher and Cardin, both in hazardous areas. There is a population of 19,556 people who live in and around the superfund site (Vincent).

6. The risk assessment team will conduct an inspection of the department/area being assessed for risk or observe the process being assessed for risk in action. The members of the risk assessment team will individually document their findings on the “ABC Proactive Risk Assessment Worksheet” (Attachment A). To determine the appropriate score for each identified risk, the reviewer will consider information obtained through a physical tour of the facility, review of annual incident

The Tar Creek Superfund Site is part of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. The Tar Creek area is where lead and zinc were mined from 1900’s to the 1960’s. When the mining came to a halt over 500 million pounds of toxic waste was left over. This waste, called chat, has caused elevated blood lead concentrations in as high as 43% in some children. When the mines were abandoned they soon flooded. This resulted in contaminated ground water, surface water, and soil. In 1983, the site was put on the National Priorities List Sites. The Tar Creek area has been on the National Priorities List for 20 years and has a rating of 58.15. Cleanup of the site has occurred since the 1980’s and is still in progress today as various organizations such as the DEQ and

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in charge of the National Priorities List. Currently the EPA is seeking to propose a rule 61. I currently work for a corporation, AECOM that stands for Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Operations, Management, where our job is to destroy chemical agent, such as mustard nerve agent. AECOM works diligently to follow EPA guidelines to ensure we do not fall under Comprehensive

"Suitable and sufficient" assessment includes determining the hazardous substances that are to be encountered, assessing the risks they present to health, calculating the quantity the duration and how frequently the substances are used, how hazardous they are and what the exposure routes and finally deciding on the action needed to prevent exposure or to reduce it as far as is reasonably practicable. This will also include the actions to be taken in an Emergency, to clear up any spills and to safely dispose of any residues. Except for the most trivial cases, the conclusions of this assessment must be recorded, made readily accessible and reviewed regularly.

Within this stage, consultation with the people surrounding the area will occur to incorporate advice and suggestion and to address any concerns from the public and stakeholders. Meetings will occur prior, during and after the completion of the remediation project to report updates for the local public, stakeholders and government. Communication and transparency are important elements to the remediation project and an online website will be established to put out resources and updates for the public to see, and uses. Once permits and regulatory approvals have been attained, other minor operation must take place in order to move forward to stage 2 of the project. Some examples of the minor operations are:

The Generation of hazardous waste by the human activities increase the risk of the damage to the environment and the human health. These create a very negative impact if not disposed properly. In the state of Illinois the implementation of the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is referred to as hazardous waste. This act consists of the changes to the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1956 and signed into the law of 1976. The regulations related to the implementation of