EPA CLEANING UP NEW ENGLAND
Bryan Olson
Chief, Superfund Remedial Cleanup Program
Office of Site Remediation & Restoration
US EPA – REGION 1
ACEC-NH Environmental Breakfast
January 15, 2014
EPA Administrator’s Priorities
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Making a Visible Difference in Communities across the Country
Addressing Climate Change and Improving Air Quality
Taking Action on Toxics and Chemical Safety
Protecting Water: A Precious, Limited Resource
Launching a New Era of State, Tribal and Local Partnerships
Embracing EPA as a High Performing Organization
Working Toward a Sustainable Future
EPA R1 Cleanup Programs
Brownfields and Land Revitalization
Emergency Response and Removal
RCRA Corrective Action
Underground Storage Tank Program
Superfund Remedial Cleanups
Former Lawrence Metals, Chelsea, MA
Brownfields & Land Revitalization
• New England has robust State and EPA
Brownfields and Superfund
Redevelopment Programs
• Contributing factors
• EPA-NE commitment to operating a
“customer-focused “ Brownfields Program
• Strong EPA and State partnerships
• Well-developed state voluntary cleanup
programs
• High property values, limited available space,
and large number of sites due to early
industrial heritage
Source: Evaluation of the Brownfields Program, EPA, 2012
Brownfields & Land Revitalization
• All New England states have benefited significantly
from EPA Brownfields funding
• Brownfields helps to leverage public and private
resources
• Approximately $1.7 billion of investment
leveraged to date at EPA-supported
Brownfields sites in New England (as reported
by grantees)
• Example: Former Essex Mill Property
• Superfund NPL Site Redevelopment
Emergency Response and Removals Program
• Evaluate approximately 800 oil and chemical
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EPA Command Tent
release notifications per year.
Respond to about 24 spills or ESF10
activations per year, average about 4 FTE.
Conduct 12 removals, about $8-9M per year,
leveraging an additional ~ $4M of partnering
agency cleanup funds or in-kind services.
Perform oil facility plan reviews and
inspections [Facility Response Plans (FRP) and
Spill (SPCC) plans].
Perform Government Initiated Unannounced
Exercises (GUIEs) in accordance with the
National Preparedness for Response Exercise
Program (PREP).
Examples of Recent Removal Activity in NH
• Strontium 90 (Wolfeboro)
Removed strontium contaminated soil.
(FY13)
• Granite State Plating (Rochester)
Plating chemicals in a box truck and
building removed. (FY12)
• UNH Campus Ministry (Durham)
Naturally-occurring anthrax released from
African drums. (FY10)
Granite State Plating (plating waste)
Superfund Progress in New England
87% of New England Superfund Sites have cleanup underway or have been completed.
The Superfund program has spent over $2 billion on New England NPL sites.
EPA has spent over $364 million on non-NPL sites in New England.
Responsible Party contributions to site investigation and cleanup in New England exceed
$3.3 billion.
NPL Pipeline in New England
Recent additions to the NPL
• Collins & Aikman, Farmington, NH
(December 2013)
• Creese & Cooke, Danvers, MA (May 2013)
• Walton & Lonsbury, Attleboro, MA
(May 2013)
• Leeds Metals, Leeds, ME (September 2012)
Currently proposed to the NPL
• Keddy Mills, Windham, ME
(December 2013)
Future sites
• Additional sites in Region 1 will be
considered for future inclusion.
New Hampshire NPL Sites Overview
• 22 Final or Proposed NPL sites in New
Hampshire
• 86% of NH’s 22 Superfund sites have cleanup
underway or have been completed.
• ~1/2 of the NPL sites are Fund/State lead and
~1/2 are PRP lead
• State of NH has full O&M/financial responsibility
at ~ 5 sites
• Expect to propose delisting the first NH site this
year (Town Garage in Londonderry)
• Pease Air Force Base- a cleanup and
redevelopment success story
Beede Waste Oil, Plaistow, NH
New Hampshire NPL Site Activity
• Significant remedial design and
construction work ongoing
Beede Waste Oil (Plaistow)
South Municipal Well (Peterborough)
• Waterline construction completed
Beede Waste Oil (Plaistow)
Mottolo Pig Farm (Raymond)
• Upcoming RODs
Chlor-Alkali (Berlin)
Savage Municipal Water Supply Well (Milford)
• Significant Community Involvement
Areas of Focus
• Groundwater restoration
• 5 year review process changes
• Renewable Energy and Greener
Remediation
• Emerging contaminants
• Institutional Controls
• Climate Change/Adaptation Planning
Budget ?