United States Office of Publication 9200.5-008C
Environmental Protection Solid Waste and November 1990
Agency Emergency Response
£EPA The Superfund Cleanup
Process
Superfund's cleanup process is designed to control short- arid long-term threats to public health and the
environment from uncontrolled releases of hazardous substances. The program responds to hazardous
waste emergencies wherever they occur; but only sites listed on the National Priorities List (NPL) are
eligible for long-term cleanup under Superfund.
EPA uncovers potential hazardous waste problems through many sources including reports from
States, communities, businesses, the U.S. Coast Guard, and citizen reports to the National Response
Center's 24-hour hotline (800/424-8802). Most long-standing hazardous waste sites took years to
develop. Cleaning them up to protect people and ewwenlBeirfs is also a lengthy and painstaking
process.
How the Process Works
Fhe major steps in the cleanup process are:
• Site discovery and investigation, usually by State officials.
• EPA evaluation of possible hazards posed by site contaminants and, if warranted, addition of the
site to the NPL. Hazardous materials that pose imminent threats may be removed anytime
during the cleanup process.
• Negotiations to encourage potentially responsible parties to pay for cleanup during each of the
following steps.
• Detailed studies to assess what contaminants are present, how serious the contamination is, and
what are the potential risks to the community. Studies are done to determine which cleanup
methods may be most effective. This process can take 18 to 30 months and the average cost is
about $1 million.
• After a public comment period on EPA's proposed cleanup plan, selection of a cleanup method
to be used at the site.
• EPA then designs a site-specific cleanup that implements its plan. This takes about 12 to 18
months and costs an average of $1 million.
• Actual cleanup. Depending on the method used, this step may take from one to six years.
Cleanup of groundwater is one of the most difficult problems found at Superfund sites. It may
take decades to cleanse groundwater.
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Why It Takes So Long
The Superfund program addresses releases of hazardous materials to the land, air, surface water and
groundwater. The program encounters many situations never dealt with before, such as dump sites in
residential areas, buried wastes in unknown amounts and concentrations, and hazardous wastes leaking
into drinking water sources.
Unlike other EPA programs, Superfund has had to develop many of .its cleanup techniques almost from
scratch. This process takes time, but innovative technologies increasingly are available to clean up
sites efficiently, effectively, and permanently.
Superfund cleanups can involve Federal agencies other than EPA, States, communities, businesses, and
private citizens. Coordination among so many groups is often time consuming. In addition, issues
may arise among groups that must be resolved before cleanup can begin.
The Superfund program stresses enforcement to make polluters pay for, or perform, as much of the
cleanup work as possible. This process is lengthy because potentially responsible parties (PRPs) must
receive due process of law. EPA oversight of PRPs1 cleanup activities and dispute resolution during
cleanup also take time.
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