United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
Publication 9203.1-021
August 1992
Superfund Accelerated
Cleanup Bulletin
Presumptive Remedies
Superfund Revitalization Activity
Office of Emergency and Remedial Response
Hazardous Site Control Division OS-220W
Intermittent Bulletin
Volume 1 Number 3
Since Superfund's inception in 1980, the removal and remedial programs have found that certain site categories have
similar characteristics, such as types of contaminants present, past industrial use, or environmental media affected.
Based on a wealth of information acquired from evaluating and cleaning up these sites, Superfund is undertaking an
initiative to develop presumptive remedies that are appropriate for specific site types and/or contaminants. This
initiative is part of a larger program, known as the Superfund Accelerated Cleanup Model (SACM), which is designed
to speed all aspects of the Superfund clean-up process.
The objective of the presumptive remedies initiative is to use clean-up techniques shown to be effective in the past at
similar sites in the future. The use of presumptive remedies will streamline removal actions, site studies, ar.d clean-up
actions, thereby improving consistency, reducing costs, and increasing the speed with which hazardous waste sites are
remediated.
This bulletin outlines the Superfund efforts underway for developing presumptive remedies for various types of sites.
Presumptive Remedy Selection Initiatives
Superfund has selected four site type catego-
ries to test the presumptive remedy se-
lection approach. Each category was
selected based on the number of
potential sites, the amount of his-
torical information available, the
type of contaminants, and the
technologies selected in the past
for remediating these types of
sites.
Several approaches are being
evaluated for determining the
most effective method(s) for
implementing the presumptive remedy selection pro-
cess. The approaches consist of Regional training on the
implementation of a streamlining guidance document
for landfill sites, developing new guidance or policy to
streamline remedy selection at other categories of sites,
and establishing expert teams to help evaluate sites and
make decisions on appropriate clean-up methods.
Municipal Landfill, Wood Treater, Solvent, and Con-
taminated Ground Water Sites will be the first types of
sites where the presumptive remedy approach is tried at
a national level. Additional pilot efforts are being tried
at the Regional level on PCB, Coal Gasification, and
Grain Storage sites. It is anticipated that the number of
site types that lend themselves to the presumptive rem-
edy selection process will be expanded as more infor-
Faster... C/eaner...Safer
mation becomes available and more experience is gained
on the approach.
The following is a brief description of the
efforts to be carried out under each
site-type category.
Municipal Landfill Sites
The goal of this initiative is to
assist the Regions in imple-
menting the recently developed
guidance on Conducting Reme-
dial Investigations/Feasibility
Studies for CERCLA Municipal
Landfill Sites. The focus of the
guidance is to streamline site characterization, baseline
risk assessment, and selection of remedial alternatives
for Municipal Landfill (MLF) sites.
A team of experienced Remedial Project Managers
(RPMs) and experts on landfill construction have worked
with RPMs for municipal landfill sites in Regions 1, 4,
and 5. The team provided assistance in scoping a stream-
lined Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI /
FS). These RPMs will become a resource for their Re-
gions, and will assist other RPMs in streamlining their
MLF sites.
Two additional pilots are planned for this summer. The
purpose of these pilots is to bring the remaining Regions
into the pilot project, so that every Region will have at.
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least one individual who is knowledgeable about the
streamlining methods identified in the manual. It is in-
tended that RPMs who participate in the pilot projects will
become members of an "Expert Team" for Municipal Land-
fills and will be available to assist other RPMs in designing
streamlined processes for their sites. (Contact: Andrea
McLaughlin 703-603-8793)
Wood Treatment Sites
The goal of this initiative is to speed up response actions at
wood treatment sites. This acceleration will be accom-
plished by narrowing the list of potential technologies
from which to choose a remedy, early in the remedy
selection process. Program experience, guidance and an
expert team will be used in concert to identify technologies
that may be applied to specific situations. This approach
will provide the flexibility required to accommodate site-
specific characteristics, while shortening the time required
to identify, select, and implement a remedy.
This initiative includes establishment of an expert team;
development of a presumptive remedy selection process,
using a selection outline and matrix; development of a
series of fact sheets; and performance of pilot studies and
ad hoc site support to implement the presumptive remedy
initiative at wood treatment sites. The expert team consists
of representatives from the Environmental Response Team
(ERT), the Office of Research and Development (ORD),
On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs) and Remedial Project Man-
agers (RPMs) with extensive experience at wood treatment
sites. The presumptive remedy selection process will fol-
low a generic outline of site activities and rely upon a
technology selection matrix to determine appropriate rem-
edies according to technical criteria. The fact sheets will be
used to report on the progress of this initiative and to
distribute information on the presumptive remedy pro-
cess. Pilot studies and ad hoc site support will be used to
implement the initiative in the field as it is refined by the
expert team. (Contact: David Ouderkirk 202-260-5614)
Solvent Sites
The goal of this initiative is to expedite response actions at
sites contaminated with solvents by focusing on a limited
number of effective technologies early in the remedial
process. This initiative will develop guidance on standard-
izing remedy selection and will issue a series of fact sheets
on technology selection and site characterization strate-
gies, and clean-up criteria for solvent-contaminated soils
and sediments.
As with the other site types, this initiative will include the
establishment of an expert team of representatives from
ERT, ORD, and experienced OSCs and RPMs to help
evaluate sites and streamline the remedy selection process.
The initiative will involve conducting pilot studies to test
implementation of the presumptive remedy approaches at
sites contaminated with solvents. Finally, the initiative will
develop a technical and policy directive on streamlining
the RI/FS process at these types of sites. (Contact: Shahid
Mahmud 703-630-8789)
Ground Water Sites
This initiative will consist of developing a Quick Reference
Fact Sheet that discusses the selection of a presumptive
remedy for sites with contaminated ground water. This is
especially relevant in light of the fact that over 75 percent
of sites currently listed on the National Priorities List
(NPL) exhibit ground-water contamination. The develop
ment of presumptive remedies for ground-water contami-
nation sites will include the Agency's most recent policies
pertaining to sites that contain non-aqueous phase liquids
(NAPLs), both dense phase (DNAPLs) and light phase
(LNAPLs). In addition, EPA will evaluate publishing a
notice in the Federal Register that will contain a generic
evaluation of six of the nine evaluation criteria set forth for
the selection of remedial alternatives in the National Con-
tingency Plan (NCP) (excluding ARARs, and community
and state acceptance). The Federal Register Notice would
allow for public review and comment on the application of
the six generic analysis criteria for ground-water contami-
nated sites. (Contact Ken Lovelace 703-630-8787).
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