Progress On Cleaning Up Underground
Storage Tank (UST) Releases
Of 447,233 total confirmed UST releases
nationwide between 1988-2004:
92% (412,567) of cleanups
have been initiated
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* U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Underground Storage Tanks
Washington, DC 20460
Cleaning Up Leaks
From Underground
Storage Tanks
71% (317,405) of cleanups
have been completed
Progress To Date
Cleanup Initiatives
29% (129,827) of cleanups have yet to
be completed and remain in the
national backlog
February 2005
EPA 510-F-05-001
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National Underground Storage Tank
(UST) Program Cleanup Performance,
1988-2004
EPA and the states continue to make considerable
progress in cleaning up leaks
317,405 cleanups have been completed
Of the 447,233 releases confirmed since 1988:
Cleanups have been initiated for most
releases (92%)
Most cleanups (71%) have been completed
The number of new releases confirmed annually
fell by 35% from 12,078 in 2003 to 7,848 in 2004.
This achieves EPA's goal of no more than
10,000 new releases per year.
It reverses a 3-year trend of increases in the
number of releases confirmed annually.
However, much work remains
There is still a national backlog of close to
130,000 UST cleanups to be completed,
and many are difficult sites involving
groundwater contamination.
Over 35 states reported that USTs are one of
the top sources of potential groundwater
contamination in at least two out of three
Clean Water Act reports (1996, 1998, 2000
CWA 305[b] reports)
The number of cleanups completed each
year has generally decreased over the past
four years and fell by 23% (from 18,518 to
14,285) in 2004.
129,827 cleanups have yet to be
completed nationwide
Leaking Underground Storage Tank
Cleanup Statistics
Underground Storage Tanks
Annual Confirmed Releases And Cleanups Completed:
2000-2004
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Cleanups Completed
Confirmed Releases
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National UST Cleanup Backlog
By Year, 1989-20041
^ 200,000
Q.
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o 180,000
^ 140,000
B 120,000
Years
1The national UST cleanup backlog is the cumulative number of confirmed
releases minus the cumulative number of cleanups completed, beginning in
1988.
For further information on the
EPA Underground Storage Tank Program:
www. epa.gov/oust/
UST Cleanup Initiatives:
Addressing The Large Workload Of Cleanups
Understanding The Nature Of Sites-To
better understand the nature of the remaining sites
to be cleaned up, EPA launched a study in 2004 to
characterize the backlog of UST sites in selected
states and Indian Country. Results of this effort
will be released in spring 2005.
Targeting Source Water Areas-EPAis
encouraging collaboration between state and
regional drinking water and UST programs to
make the best use of resources in reducing the
risks USTs pose to drinking water sources.
www. epa.gov/oust/swaustmemo.pdf
Financing CleanupS-EPA seeks to develop a
set of standard data reporting and analysis tools to
implement OSWER Directive 9650.14,
Monitoring the Financial Soundness of Approved
State Assurance Funds. This initiative will
enable EPA to identify fund soundness issues and
assist states in addressing them.
www.epa.gov/swerustl/directiv/od9659014.htm
Streamlining Cleanups-
•S Multi-site agreements
www.epa.gov/oust/msa_memo _032904.pdf
•S Triad www.epa.gov/tio/triad/
•S Optimizing the cleanup of difficult sites:
pilots in NY, NJ, and TX
^ Pay for performance contracting
www. epa.gov/oust/pfp
• MTBE—EPA is developing fact sheets on the
cleanup of UST MTBE sites in selected pilot
communities. These fact sheets will be completed
in spring 2005.
www.epa.gov/oust/mtbe/index.htm
Recycling Abandoned Gas Stations-EPA
encourages states, tribes, and other prospective
partners to identify opportunities to clean up and
return abandoned gas stations to productive
residential, retail/commercial, ecological/
recreational, or public use. It also encourages
them to implement the petroleum brownfields
provisions of the Brownfields law.
www. epa.gov/oust/20recycl. htm over
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