Federal Environmental Law and
“Superfund”
It all started with Love Canal…
• Landfill and canal in Niagara Falls, New York that was
excavated by Mr. William T. Love in the 1890's for a proposed
hydroelectric power project that was never implemented.
• Beginning in 1942, the landfill was used by Hooker Chemicals
and Plastics (now Occidental Chemical Corporation (OCC)) for
the disposal of over 21,000 tons of various chemical wastes,
including halogenated organics, pesticides, chlorobenzenes and
dioxin.
• Dumping ceased in 1952 and in 1953
the landfill was covered and deeded to the Niagara Falls Board
of Education (NFBE) for $1.00.
• Subsequently, the area near the covered landfill was extensively
developed, including the construction of an elementary school
and numerous homes.
Love Canal
• Problems with odors and residues, first reported in
the 1960's, increased during the 1970's, as the water
table rose, bringing contaminated groundwater to the
surface.
• Numerous toxic chemicals migrated into the
surrounding area directly adjacent to the original
landfill disposal site. Runoff drained into the Niagara
River, approximately three miles upstream of the
intake tunnels for the Niagara Falls water treatment
plant. Dioxin and other contaminants migrated from
the landfill to the existing sewers, which had outfalls
into nearby creeks.
Love Canal
Love Canal
• In 1978 and 1980, President Carter
issued two environmental emergencies
for the Love Canal area. As a result,
approximately 950 families were
evacuated from a ten square block area
surrounding the landfill.
• Approximately 10,000 people are
located within one mile of the Site;
70,000 people live within three miles.
The Love Canal area is served by a
public water supply system; the City of
Niagara Falls water treatment plant
serves 77,000 people. The Site is 1/4
mile north of the Niagara River.
Area where
school and1st
rows of homes
were demolished.
The Federal Government’s
response to Love Canal
• Dec. 11, 1980 - Congress passes CERCLA
• Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act
– established laws regulating closed and abandoned
hazardous waste sites
– provided for liability of persons responsible for
hazardous waste releases
– established a trust fund (Superfund) for cleanup of
sites where no responsible party could be
identified.
SARA (Superfund Amendments
and Reauthorization Act)
• Oct. 18, 1986 - passed by Congress
– amended CERCLA to reflect experience of
previous 5 years.
– Established strict liability for hazardous waste
sites.
– Increased state and local participation in
remediation decisions.
– Increased size of cleanup fund to $8.5 billion.
PRPs
• Under CERCLA, four classes of parties, termed
"potential responsible parties," may be liable for
contamination at a Superfund site:
• the current owner or operator of the site
• the owner or operator of a site at the time that disposal
of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant
occurred
• a person who arranged for the disposal of a hazardous
substance, pollutant or contaminant at a site
• a person who transported a hazardous substance,
pollutant or contaminant to a site; that transporter must
have also selected that site for the disposal of the
hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants
CERCLA (Superfund)
• App. 70% of Superfund cleanup paid for by
parties responsible (PRPs).
• “Orphan” sites paid for through a trust fund
(Superfund) originally paid for through a tax
on petroleum and chemical industries.
• Tax was last collected in 1995 when fund was
at $6.0 billion.
• Fund was exhausted by end of 2003.
• Orphan site funds now appropriated by
Congress out of general revenues.
CERCLA (Superfund)
• Two levels of Federal response:
– Emergency response: immediate and short term
remediation of hazardous substance releases that
pose an imminent threat to public health.
– Long term remedial response: study and cleanup
of contaminated sites that pose a significant, but
not immediate, threat to public health and
environmental quality.
CERCLA (Superfund)
• National Contingency Plan:
– Established guidelines and procedures for
responding to releases of hazardous substances.
– Established NPL (National Priorities List) - list of
sites eligible for Superfund money for long-term
site remediation.
– Established HRS (Hazard Ranking System) numerical ranking system used for assigning
uncontrolled waste sites to the NPL.
EPA NPL Sites
EPA NPL Sites
100 COMMERCIAL STREET
AIR TECHNIQUES, INC
ALSY MANUFACTURING
AMERICAN DRIVE-IN CLEANERS
ANCHOR CHEMICALS
APPLIED ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
BARTLETT TREE COMPANY
CALLDATA LONG ISLAND CENTER
CAPTAIN'S COVE CONDOMINIUMS
CERRO WIRE & CABLE CO
CLAREMONT POLYCHEMICAL
DEKNATEL (DIV OF PFIZER HOSP PROD)
DENTON AVENUE LANDFILL
FAIRCHILD REPUBLIC
FORMER MUNSEY CLEANERS
FRANKLIN CLEANERS
FULTON AVENUE
FUMEX SANITATION, INC.
GENZALE PLATING CO.
GLEN COVE GAS PLANT
HOOKER CHEMICAL & PLASTICS CORP./RUCO
POLYMER CORP.
JACKSON STEEL
JOHN HASSALL
LI TUNGSTEN CORP.
LIBERTY INDUSTRIAL FINISHING
LOUIS SORRENTINO PROPERTY
MATTIACE PETROCHEMICAL CO., INC.
MERRICK LANDFILL
NASSAU COUNTY FIRE TRAINING CENTER
NAVAL WEAPONS INDUSTRIAL RESERVE PLANT
NEW CASSEL INDUSTRIAL AREA
OLD BETHPAGE LANDFILL
OLD ROOSEVELT FIELD CONTAMINATED GW AREA
PASLEY SOLVENTS & CHEMICALS, INC.
PENETREX PROCESSING, INC
PORT WASHINGTON LANDFILL
ROOSEVELT USARC
SCHENCK BUS CO. TERMINAL
SERVO CORP
STANTON CLEANERS
STAR CARTING COMPANY
STONE BOULEVARD
SYOSSET LANDFILL
THREE DIMENSIONAL CIRCUITS
TOOTER CENTER
NPL Sites
Nassau County, NY
OLD ROOSEVELT FIELD CONTAMINATED GROUND
WATER AREA
• 900 to 1,000 acres east of Clinton Road and south of Old
Country Road in Garden City (current site of the Mall).
• Garden City public supply wells 10 and 11 were installed at
what had been the southwestern corner of the airfield in 1952
and put into use in 1953.
• Wells have shown the presence of tetrachloroethene (PCE) and
trichloroethene (TCE).
• 1987 - airstripping treatment system was installed at the wells
to remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
• Treatment system was upgraded in 1999.
NPL Superfund sites, Nassau County, New York
OLD ROOSEVELT FIELD CONTAMINATED GROUND
WATER AREA
• 2007 - EPA proposed a cleanup plan.
• Pump and treat system proposed - groundwater at highest
concentration of contaminants will be extracted and treated,
with treated water discharged to a recharge basin.
• Cone of depression from pumping well should pull
contaminated groundwater away from public supply wells.
NPL Superfund sites, Nassau County, New York
Garden City Public Supply Wells 10 and 11
Garden City Public Supply Wells 10 and 11
Storage tank
Air stripping towers
FULTON AVENUE, GARDEN CITY PARK
• 150 Fulton Avenue is the former location of a cutting mill and
dry cleaning facility.
• Data suggests that a groundwater plume of volatile organic
compounds (VOCs), composed chiefly of the dry cleaning
solvent tetrachlorethene (PCE), is emanating from the site dry
well and is migrating both horizontally and vertically.
• Contaminated sediments and soils have been removed from the
base of the dry well and an Air Sparging/Soil Vapor Extraction
(AS/SVE) system was installed and operated until 2001 as part
of an IRM conducted by the PRPs.
• Approximately 465 gallons of PCE have been removed.
• As of 2007 the EPA issued a Proposed Remedial Action Plan to
remediate the groundwater plume emanating from the site.
NPL Superfund sites, Nassau County, New York
Garden City Industrial Park
Garden City Industrial Park
CLAREMONT POLYCHEMICAL, BETHPAGE
• Former manufacturer of pigments for plastics and inks that
operated from 1966 to 1980 on 9.5 acre site.
• Claremont disposed of liquid wastes in three leaching basins and
deposited solid wastes and treatment sludges in drums or in old,
aboveground metal tanks.
• During a series of inspections in 1979, the Nassau County
Department of Health (NCDH) found 2,000 to 3,000 drums
containing inks, resins, and organic solvents throughout the site.
• Claremont sorted and removed the drums from the site in 1980.
Because an area of the site was visibly contaminated with inks
and solvents, Claremont was directed to install groundwater
monitoring wells.
• Claremont declares bankruptcy in 1980.
NPL Superfund sites, Nassau County, New York
CLAREMONT POLYCHEMICAL, BETHPAGE
• Approximately 47,000 people draw drinking water from wells
located within 3 miles of the site. The nearest public water
supply well is 3,500 feet northwest of the site.
• Shallow groundwater is contaminated with organic compounds
in excess of federal and/or New York State Maximum
Contaminant Levels (MCLs). These organic compounds
include: tetrachloroethene (TCE), trans-1,2-dichloroethene,
trichloroethene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane,
ethylbenzene, acetone, benzene, 1,1-dichloroethane, methylene
chloride, xylenes and vinyl chloride. Heavy metals detected in
excess of federal and state standards include: arsenic,
chromium, and lead.
NPL Superfund sites, Nassau County, New York
CLAREMONT POLYCHEMICAL, BETHPAGE
• In 1989 and 1990, the EPA removed 13,000 gallons of
hazardous liquid wastes contained in drums, aboveground
tanks, basins, etc. In addition, in 1991 fifteen underground
storage tanks were removed and their contents transported offsite for treatment/disposal.
• Extraction wells were installed at the property boundary to
capture the most contaminated groundwater. The second phase
of the groundwater remediation will consist of installing
additional extraction wells farther downgradient to capture the
off-site migrating plume. The construction of the on-site
groundwater treatment system began in May 1997 and fullscale operation began in February 2000.
NPL Superfund sites, Nassau County, New York
Claremont Polychemical, Bethpage
Brownfields
Brownfields
Brownfields
EPA Definition
“Brownfields are real property, the expansion,
redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by
the presence or potential presence of a hazardous
substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Cleaning up and
reinvesting in these properties takes development
pressures off of undeveloped, open land, and both
improves and protects the environment.”
• Estimated 450,000 brownfields in
the U.S.
Brownfields
Problems with remediating brownfields under CERCLA:
•Complex liability scheme that discourages ownership and
development of brownfield properties.
•EPA can intervene in state brownfield cleanups and
demand additional remediation.
•Investors reluctant to become involved in brownfields
projects due to uncertain liability.
•Developers end up choosing greenfields over brownfields
for development.
•Majority of brownfields in economically depressed, areas
that need additional tax revenues from development.
Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields
Revitalization Act - Jan. 2002
• Protects businesses that purchase brownfields for development
from the liability provisions of CERCLA provided that they
perform a Phase I and, if needed, Phase II site investigation
prior to purchasing.
•Clarifies “All Appropriate
Inquiries” - if a legitimate site
investigation fails to turn up
indications of contamination, the
purchasers are released from
liability should contamination
later be found on the site.
Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields
Revitalization Act - Jan. 2002
• “Brownfields Revitalization Funding,” amends CERCLA to
provide for grants to eligible entities (including local
government units, redevelopment agencies, States, and Indian
tribes) for inventorying, characterizing, assessing, remediating,
and conducting planning related to brownfield sites.
• Restricts authority to take enforcement actions under
CERCLA in cases of hazardous substance releases addressed
by a state response plan. It specifies instances in which the
President can bring enforcement actions.
Glen Cove, NY
Glen Cove waterfront--Geoprobe operations on Li Tungsten site.
(Photo by David Romaine)
Garvies Point / Glen Cove Creek, Glen Cove, LI
• Abandoned industrial sites along small tidal creek, 2 NPL
• Li Tungsten / Teledyne site - mercury, radium, solvents
• Mattiace Petrochemical - VOCs, Phenols
• 1998 - designated a Brownfields Showcase Community by the
federal government.
• Cleanup and redevelopment has proceeded slowly, but most
contamination has been removed from sites, waterfront is
being developed as a park, and a developer has signed on to
build mixed residential and business properties.
City of Glen Cove
Local Waterfront Revitalization Program
Area Sectors
Glen Cove Creek - Brownfields and Superfund Sites
Glen Cove Waterfront
Brownfields