EPA Establishes Hazardous Waste Enforcement and Emergency Response System

Names 60 New Sites

Press release

By: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Date: July 11, 1979

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). "EPA Establishes Hazardous Waste Enforcement and Emergency Response System: Names 60 new sites." July 11, 1979. 〈http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/hazard/01.htm〉 (accessed January 6, 2006).

About the Organization: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a U.S. agency set up to protect the environment from various hazards. The EPA is an independent statutory body. Among its primary duties are to provide independent advice to the government on environmental protection legislation; put forward new environmental related proposals; and monitor the environment within the United States according to the limits set by various federal and state legislations.

INTRODUCTION

Disposal of hazardous waste has been an enormous problem in the past few decades, even for a developed nation like the United States. Hazardous wastes, especially those generated by industry, can pose significant risks to public health and can be a long-standing danger to the environment. In the 1960s, hazardous waste dumps throughout the country raised serious health concerns for the public.

Subsequently, in 1979 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the formation of a Hazardous Waste Enforcement and Emergency Response System to counter this issue. It also identified sixty various sites that were targets of hazardous waste. The system recognized and gave top priority to cleaning up hazardous waste sites. It acknowledged the danger posed by hazardous waste dumps, such as the leaching of toxic substances into ground water systems, to the public.

The EPA press release dated July 1979 reports the announcement by Deputy Administrator Barbara Blum about the introduction of a Hazardous Waste Enforcement and Emergency Response System by the EPA to tackle the growing problem of hazardous waste disposal in the United States.

Earlier pollution control norms largely succeeded in keeping pollutants out of the air and water. However, a large number of open land dumps came into existence due to lack of effective regulations to prevent dumping of solid waste on land sites.

The EPA, after establishing Hazardous Waste Enforcement, discovered numerous hazardous dumpsites, initiating federal and state action against some of those sites. They conceded that various dumpsite owners lacked information, knowledge, and the funds to correct environmental and related damages occurring due to their haphazard dumping practices.

PRIMARY SOURCE

Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Administrator Barbara Blum today named the clean-up of hazardous waste dump sites threatening public health the "highest Agency priority" and established an agency-wide Hazardous Waste Enforcement and Emergency Response System to respond to hazardous waste emergencies.

Blum also released today the names of 60 newly-discovered sites containing wastes which may be public health and environmental hazards.

"We are now aware of 151 sites across the country which may contain potentially dangerous quantities of hazardous wastes," said Blum. "We will continue to evaluate the extent of the hazards at these sites and force responsible parties to alleviate any immediate threat to the public."

EPA is currently in the process of evaluating potential hazards at 111 sites known to contain hazardous wastes. These evaluations may result in legal actions or emergency Federal actions to contain the spread of contaminants where there is an imminent hazard and existing local authority and funding is insufficient.

At the moment, Federal legal action is pending on five sites, and the States are acting against 34 sites. Forty-five dump sites named earlier this year as potentially dangerous have been cleaned up or removed from the current inventory of imminent hazards.

Blum also stressed the need for greater Federal authority and funding to act in emergencies when it becomes clear that sites containing hazardous wastes are threatening public health.

"EPA must now identify a responsible party and prove that imminent danger exists before it takes legal action, often delaying emergency cleanup," Blum said. "Responsible parties—generally site owners or operators if known—are often financially and logistically incapable of remedying hazards resulting from past careless dumping practices."

Legislation proposed by President Carter and now before Congress would give EPA authority and money to clean up such hazards in emergencies from abandoned or inactive waste sites without going to court first. The legislation, referred to as "superfund," would give EPA $1.625 billion in fees and appropriations over a four-year period for emergency cleanup of waste sites and spills. The fees would be levied on segments of the oil, petrochemical, and inorganic chemical industries.

Under the legislation, owners of abandoned or inactive hazardous waste sites would have to notify the government of the site's presence. The government could recover any cleanup costs incurred from the liable parties, if such parties could be identified.

EPA has also requested an additional $45 million and 70 positions to aid in cleanup investigations and to prepare legal casework. At the moment, the Agency has devoted some 100 people, primarily in its Regional Offices, to hazardous waste site investigation and enforcement.

To implement the system, Blum created a National Hazardous Waste Enforcement Task Force and a new unit in the Oil and Special Materials Control Division. The Enforcement Task Force, which will report directly to Blum, will coordinate Federal cleanup activity with its Regional Offices and with the States, including technical, scientific and legal support work. A status report will be kept of the number of sites containing hazardous wastes known to EPA and their cleanup status.

SIGNIFICANCE

There has been considerable development in the area of hazardous waste enforcement since the late 1970s, when EPA introduced its landmark Hazardous Waste Enforcement and Emergency Response System. A number of related federal legislations have passed since 1979 to tackle the growing problem of hazardous waste and implementation of effective enforcement against this menace.

Prior to the establishment of the Hazardous Waste Enforcement System, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was passed in 1976. Under Federal Law, the EPA was ultimately responsible for identifying and publishing a list of hazardous waste sites within eighteen months of passing of the RCRA act. It was also responsible for setting the standards of organizing, transportation, and final disposal of hazardous waste.

In a similar development, the U.S. Congress passed the Toxic Control Substance Act in 1976. Though this act gave the EPA wide powers to track more than seventy-five thousand toxic chemicals, like asbestos, entering or being produced in the United States, it was amended in 1979 with stronger provisions. The production and distribution of substances like polychlorinated biphenyl and other toxic substances were banned under the amendment.

Soon after the EPA's Hazardous Waste Enforcement System, in December 1980, the Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). Creating a 'superfund' for the money needed to clean up hazardous wastes in open sites, this act gave the EPA wider powers to search for parties dumping hazardous waste in open sites, take measures to include them in the cleanup operations, and also make them liable for the costs incurred.

The above-mentioned acts, along with the Hazardous Waste Enforcement System, also stipulated the discontinuation of hazardous solid waste disposal in open spaces by 1983. Such stipulations brought the disposal of hazardous waste under federal and state law.

In 1984 the RCRA was revised to include the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendment. This was done to alter the limitations posed by the act in its earlier versions. As discussed, this amendment required the phasing out of disposal of hazardous waste on open land. It also mandated tougher standards for waste disposal.

In 1992, the Congress passed the Federal Facility Compliance Act (FFCA). This act includes specific restrictions necessary for the disposal of hazardous waste. It also includes various conditions to be met for treatment of hazardous waste prior to its storage or disposal. Environmental Action groups state that most of these laws were passed after awareness about the risks of hazardous waste dumps was created by the Hazardous Waste Enforcement System and other EPA initiatives.

Since the late 1990s and early 2000s, the EPA has been actively organizing cleanup activities at various waste dumpsites. It also initiates action where dangerous chemicals may have leaked into the air, water, or the ground—for instance, leakage from underground tanks or fires at chemical or industrial plants. The EPA works out the damages caused in economical terms and costs incurred for this disposal, making the offending party pay for the damage caused.

FURTHER RESOURCES

Web sites

"Environmental Laws." Missouri Department of Natural Resources. 〈http://www.dnr.mo.gov/env/hwp/laws.htm〉 (accessed March 16, 2006).

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Civil Enforcement." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 〈http://www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/econmodels〉 (accessed March 16, 2006).

――――――. "Cleaning up our Land, Water, and Air." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 〈http://www.epa.gov/oswer/cleanup/basicinfo.htm〉 (accessed March 16, 2006).

――――――. "Cleaning up the Nation's Hazardous Waste Sites." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 〈http://www.epa.gov/superfund〉 (accessed March 16, 2006).