The Wise Report
September 28, 2013
Henry M. Wise, P.G.
From the National Ground Water Association Newszine, September 27, 2013 (http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/ngwanz/issues/2013-09-27/index.html) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund office is planning to ease its policy that favors cleanup of contaminated groundwater to meet strict drinking water standards, with a top official saying the agency plans to consult states on whether or how to weigh groundwater uses when setting cleanup objectives, according to Inside Washington Publishers.
Jim Woolford, director of EPA's Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation, said September 17 during a panel discussion before the Environmental Council of the States at its annual meeting in Arlington, Virginia, that the agency is considering a "flexible approach to setting remedial objectives" for contaminated groundwater. However, he called it a "very sensitive issue" that will require discussions with states.
Included will be discussions with states about how they determine groundwater uses, which may help the agency "set a different cleanup objective, different cleanup level than just what is in the [drinking water maximum contaminant level (MCL)]," he said. Discussions are expected to begin with states next month.
If the agency adopts the changes, it could soften a policy that has long driven costly cleanups that can require pump-and-treat remediation systems that liable parties are often required to fund.
Where cleanups are particularly complicated, such as where the resource is contaminated with so-called dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs)—chemicals like trichloroethene (TCE) or chemical mixtures that are heavier than, and only slightly soluble in, water—those pump-and-treat remedies can be permanent.
But in cases where no liable parties are viable and the Superfund trust fund has covered the cost of remediation, states are ultimately required to cover such long-term operation and maintenance costs after the trust fund has covered those costs for 10 years.
The agency's push aligns with some of the recommendations contained in a landmark National Academies of Science's 2012 report that is gaining increased attention among state regulators, EPA, and others.
The report, "Alternatives for Managing the Nation's Complex Contaminated Groundwater Sites," examined the future of groundwater remediation efforts and found that at complex groundwater sites, poorly accessible or recalcitrant contaminants have complicated or prevented site closure.
Facing dwindling budgets and federal funds, states raised the cost concern earlier this year when U.S. House of Representatives Republicans advanced legislation that sought to ease state requirements under federal hazardous waste law. For example, Daniel Miller, senior assistant attorney general for Colorado, told a May 17 hearing before the House Environment and Economy Subcommittee that rather than advancing legislation to allow judicial review of EPA cleanup decisions, lawmakers should instead address states' concerns that some remedies that the EPA favors, such as long-term groundwater pump-and-treat systems, shift cost burdens to states that must cover operation and maintenance costs.
In the Superfund program, Woolford said there are more than 1600 total sites, with 90% of them having groundwater issues. The EPA's Web site said DNAPLs are likely to be present at 60% of Superfund sites. In addition, regulators said the issues over groundwater cleanups affect a broad spectrum of sites—cleanups under brownfields and the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) programs as well as the Superfund program.
Henry M. Wise, P.G.
The Wise Report
September 28, 2013