Approximately $8.5 billion has been made available in special accounts through the deposit of funds from PRP settlements and interest earned. Approximately $5 billion of that amount has been spent on Superfund site cleanups. The balance of $3.5 billion is planned to be used for ongoing or future Superfund cleanup work.
Who owns Superfund?
§ 9601 et seq. The United States federal Superfund law, officially the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), established the federal Superfund program, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
How far away should you live from a Superfund site?
This vapor intrusion then poses further risk to nearby residents, inside of their homes where they would otherwise be inclined to feel safe. Obviously, proximity to a Superfund site is critical; four miles’ distance poses a decreased health risk as compared to a mere forty feet.
How long do Superfund sites last?
Sites that have recently completed the Superfund listing process have taken over 9 years and those that have recently completed the cleanup process have taken over 10 years. These completion periods have generally lengthened over the history of the program.
Is Superfund still funded?
The program was originally funded by a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries, but that tax expired in 1995, and now the money for the Superfund program has come primarily through appropriations from the general revenue.As appropriations have decreased over the past two decades, cleanup has slowed, putting more …
How much money is spent on Superfund sites?
Approximately $8.5 billion has been made available in special accounts through the deposit of funds from PRP settlements and interest earned. Approximately $5 billion of that amount has been spent on Superfund site cleanups. The balance of $3.5 billion is planned to be used for ongoing or future Superfund cleanup work.
How many Americans live near a Superfund site?
Approximately 21 million people live within 1 mile of a Superfund site (roughly 6% of the U.S. population) including approximately: • 7% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5 • 6% of all children in the U.S. under 18 • 6% of all blacks in the U.S. • 9% of all Hispanics in the U.S. • 8% of all minorities in the …
How is Superfund financed?
The Superfund trust fund receives money from three major sources annually: • $553 million from petroleum excise taxes; • $273 million from chemical feedstock excise taxes; and • $504 million from environmental income taxes.
What is the largest Superfund site in the US?
About the Hanford (USDOE) Site
The 586 square mile Hanford Site is home to one of the largest Superfund cleanups in the nation. Hanford is divided into four National Priorities List (NPL) sites.
Does Canada have Superfund sites?
How many federal contaminated sites are there in Canada? There are 23,078 federal sites listed in the FCSI maintained by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, including 5,337 active contaminated sites and 2,355 suspected sites.
What qualifies as a Superfund site?
A superfund site is any site in the U.S that has been contaminated by hazardous materials and identified by the EPA as a candidate for cleanup.
Is Gold King Mine a Superfund site?
A 2015 accidental rupture at the Gold King Mine, an abandoned gold mine adjacent to the Sunnyside Mine, led to a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or Superfund, designation in 2016.
How do I create a Superfund website?
- 1 – Petition the EPA for an Assessment. First, a potential site must be brought to the attention of the EPA. …
- 2 – The Preliminary Assessment. …
- 3 – The Site Inspection. …
- 4 –The Hazardous Ranking System (HRS) …
- 5 – NPL Listing.
What is the most toxic Superfund site?
- McCormick & Baxter Creosoting Co. …
- Lipari Landfill. …
- Washington County Lead District – Old Mines. …
- Washington County Lead District – Richwoods. …
- Big River Mine Tailings/St.
Why was Superfund created?
Superfund was founded on the principle that those companies most closely associated with creating toxic waste sites and generating hazardous waste should bear the financial burden of cleaning them up. It is time for Congress to reinstate the polluter pays fees.
Why is it called Superfund?
CERCLA is informally called Superfund. It allows EPA to clean up contaminated sites. It also forces the parties responsible for the contamination to either perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-led cleanup work.
How much money is in Superfund?
EPA receives annual appropriations from the trust fund for program activities; since 1981, Superfund appropriations have totaled over $32 billion in nominal dollars, or about $1.2 billion annually.
What expense does Superfund Act not cover?
That means that the government can’t spend Superfund money on anything except cleaning up hazardous-waste sites.) Superfund is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Even though Superfund was created relatively recently, civilizations have always had to deal with the problem of waste disposal.
What is a super site?
Superfund sites are polluted locations in the United States requiring a long-term response to clean up hazardous material contaminations. They were designated under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980.
What is RCRA stand for?
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is the public law that creates the framework for the proper management of hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste. The law describes the waste management program mandated by Congress that gave EPA authority to develop the RCRA program.
Are there any Superfund sites in Massachusetts?
The 70-acre Charles George Reclamation Trust Landfill Superfund site is located in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts.
How many drums were removed from the Valley of Drums waste site?
EPA, responding under the emergency provisions of The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), upgraded the existing treatment system and removed the remaining 4,200 drums of surface wastes off site for recycling or disposal.
How many Superfund sites have been identified in the United States?
[hide]Number of Superfund sites by state (January 2016) | |
---|---|
State | Superfund sites |
United States total† | 1,303 |
What is the most toxic city in America?
In Atlanta, Ga., you’ll find southern gentility, a world-class music scene–and 21,000 tons of environmental waste. In spite of its charms, the city’s combination of air pollution and atmospheric chemicals makes it the most toxic city in the country.
Is Flint Michigan a Superfund site?
Despite the attention to the Safe Drinking Water Act and its relevance to the mass lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan, the crisis with the lead in the pipes of Flint is clearly covered under the Superfund law and actually requires a federal-level Superfund response.
Is Butte a Superfund site?
In 1983, the Butte Area was declared a Federal Superfund Site. The Superfund designation paved the way for remediation and restoration of the environment throughout western Montana damaged by a century of mining and smelting in Butte and Anaconda, Montana.
Why is Port Hope contaminated?
Industrial activity from Eldorado Mining and Refining between 1933 and 1953 contaminated an estimated 85,000-95,000 cubic meters of sediment with low-level radioactive material within the turning basin and west slip of Port Hope Harbour.
Has Superfund been successful?
Over the past three decades, CERCLA has successfully cleaned and restored close to 400 contaminated sites once listed on its national priorities list (NPL), including the infamous Love Canal site. In 2017, then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt established the Superfund Task Force.
Is Hanford a Superfund site?
HANFORD 100-AREA (USDOE) | Superfund Site Profile | Superfund Site Information | US EPA.
Is the Gowanus Canal safe?
Canoeing, kayaking, boat touring and “catch and release” fishing are not expected to harm people’s health, although there may be some physical hazards, such as large commercial boat traffic. Breathing contaminants from the Gowanus Canal in outdoor air near the canal is not expected to harm people’s health.
How do I find out if my land is contaminated?
The only real way to confirm the presence of any contamination on the land is to carry out a very expensive soil survey, but the first step is usually to draw on any information which is already known. We have information which has been drawn from a number of sources and records up to two hundred years old.
What is Fcsap?
The Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan (FCSAP) was established in 2005 as a 15-year program with funding of $4.54 billion from the Government of Canada. The program was renewed for another 15 years (2020 to 2034) with $1.16 billion announced in Budget 2019 for the first five years (Phase IV, 2020 to 2024).
Why does New Jersey have so many Superfund sites?
Some common contaminated sites include abandoned warehouses, manufacturing facilities, processing plants and landfills. In response to growing concern over health and environmental risks posed by these contaminated sites, the 96th Congress established the Superfund program in 1980 to clean up these sites.
What is the most toxic place on earth?
DZERZHINSK, RUSSIA: This city of 245,000 has been in the top 10 since 2006—and was dubbed the most chemically polluted city in the world by Guinness World Records in 2011—boasting a “white sea” in the middle of town that is the residue of Soviet-era chemical manufacturing…
What state has the most toxic waste sites?
New Jersey is home to the most hazardous waste sites in the United States, with 114 as of October 2021.
What happened at Gold King Mine?
Contractors accidentally destroyed the plug holding water trapped inside the mine, which caused an overflow of the pond, spilling three million US gallons (eleven thousand cubic metres) of mine waste water and tailings, including heavy metals such as cadmium and lead, and other toxic elements, such as arsenic, …
Is there gold in the Animas River?
As you might expect, the Animas River that flows from the high country in Silverton has gold throughout. Even all the way down to Durango can produce a bit of “color” in the bottom of your pan.
Who owns the Gold King Mine?
The GKM shipped 711,144 tons of gold and silver ore while in operation. The mine has been inactive since then. It is currently owned by San Juan Corporation. The GKM is located in the Upper Animas Watershed in southwestern Colorado.
What is a Cerclis site?
Active Sites: Active CERCLIS sites are sites at which site assessment, removal, remedial, enforcement, cost recovery, or oversight activities are being planned or conducted under the Superfund program.
What happened to the Superfund?
In 1995, a Republican-controlled Congress eliminated a nine-year-old tax on petroleum and chemical industries, which had created a multibillion-dollar trust for Superfund cleanups. The trust is now dissipating.
What are some examples of Superfund sites?
- of 10. Love Canal, New York. …
- of 10. Tar Creek, Oklahoma. …
- of 10. Pearl Harbor Naval Complex, Hawaii. …
- of 10. Gowanus Canal, New York. …
- of 10. Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area, Montana. …
- of 10. Murray Smelter, Utah. …
- of 10. Lipari Landfill, New Jersey. …
- of 10. Portland Harbor, Oregon.
When was the first Superfund site?
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (also called Superfund), providing billions of dollars for cleaning up abandoned waste dumps, was first established in 1980, but the number of those waste sites and the difficulties of the cleanups remained formidable for years thereafter.
What is a non NPL Superfund site?
Non-NPL sites include sites removed from the proposed NPL, sites withdrawn from the final NPL, sites being addressed as part of another NPL site, and all other non-NPL sites. Where available, the report includes funding information for each action, as well as site characterization data.
Is Love Canal still a Superfund site?
In September 2004, the EPA removed the Site from the Superfund program’s NPL. As a result of the revitalization efforts of the Love Canal Area Revitalization Agency (LCARA), new homeowners have moved into the habitable areas of the Love Canal site.
How many Superfund sites are located in California?
As of March 10, 2011, there were 94 Superfund sites on the National Priorities List in California. Three additional sites have been proposed for entry on the list. Twelve sites have been cleaned up and removed from the list. One site was proposed for entry and then removed.
Are there any Superfund sites in Georgia?
The 130-acre Armstrong World Industries (AWI) Superfund site is located in Macon, Georgia, next to the Macon Naval Ordnance Plant (MNOP) Superfund site. The AWI site consists of two parcels.
How many Superfund sites are in Oklahoma?
There are only four Superfund sites with active, ongoing clean-up efforts: Oklahoma Refining Company, Tar Creek, Wilcox and Tinker. Eagle Industries was recently proposed to be added to the National Priorities List.
How many Superfund sites are in NYC?
As of October 2013, there were 87 Superfund sites on the NPL in New York. Two new sites have been proposed for addition to the list, and 26 sites have been deleted from the list following cleanup.
How are Superfund sites funded?
The Superfund trust fund receives money from three major sources annually: • $553 million from petroleum excise taxes; • $273 million from chemical feedstock excise taxes; and • $504 million from environmental income taxes.
What is the difference between a brownfield and a Superfund site?
The difference between the two is that superfunds are EPA-involved and are sites on the NPL, the nation’s worst hazard sites. Brownfields are usually abandoned industrial and commercial facilities, and cleanup does not involve the EPA.
Does CERCLA only apply to Superfund sites?
CERCLA authorizes Superfund cleanup responses in two ways: short-term removal and long-term environmental remediation. These actions can be conducted only at sites listed on EPA’s National Priorities List (NPL).
What is a waste under RCRA?
RCRA states that “solid waste” means any garbage or refuse, sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material, resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, and from community activities.
What is the maximum amount of waste that can be stored on site for a large quantity generator?
Large Quantity Generators (LQGs) generate 1,000 kilograms per month or more of hazardous waste or more than one kilogram per month of acutely hazardous waste. Major requirements for LQGs include: LQGs may only accumulate waste on-site for 90 days. Certain exceptions apply.
What is acute waste?
Basically, Acute hazardous wastes are those that pose a threat to human health and the environment, even when they are properly managed. Acute hazardous wastes use Hazard Code H and include almost every form of dioxin-bearing waste. They usually are from discarded commercial products.
What is the largest Superfund site in the US?
About the Hanford (USDOE) Site
The 586 square mile Hanford Site is home to one of the largest Superfund cleanups in the nation. Hanford is divided into four National Priorities List (NPL) sites.