GAO Report Released: Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Observations on States' Role, Liabilities at DOD and Hardrock Mining Sites, and Litigation Issues

Recently, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report, titled Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Observations on States' Role, Liabilities at DOD and Hardrock Mining Sites, and Litigation Issues GAO-13-633T (May 22, 2013). The details of the 24-page report, available here, are discussed below:

Why GAO Did This Study

According to EPA, the agency that manages the nation's principal hazardous waste cleanup program, one in four Americans lives within 3 miles of a hazardous waste site. Many such sites pose health and other risks, and their cleanup can be lengthy and expensive. EPA's Superfund program, established under [Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act ] CERCLA, provides a process to address contaminated sites. Under CERCLA, parties that contributed to the contamination of a site are generally liable for cleanup and related costs. These parties may include federal agencies, such as DOD, and companies. Based on the risk a site poses, EPA may place the site on the [National Priorities List] NPL, a list that includes some of the nation's most seriously contaminated sites. As of April 2013, the NPL included about 1,300 sites, and states and federal agencies may address additional contaminated sites outside of EPA's Superfund program. GAO's prior work has identified challenges cleaning up DOD's NPL sites and abandoned mining sites and has assessed litigation related to the Superfund program.

In this testimony, GAO summarizes its work from March 2008 to April 2013 on (1) the role of states in cleaning up hazardous waste sites, (2) DOD's management of its sites on the NPL, (3) federal liabilities from contaminated hardrock mining sites, and (4) litigation under CERCLA and other statutes.

GAO is not making new recommendations but has made numerous recommendations to DOD, EPA, and Interior to better address hazardous waste sites. As described in this statement, the responses to these recommendations have varied.

DOE Audit Report Released: The Department of Energy's Use of the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility at the Oak Ridge Reservation

Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Inspector General released an audit report titled, The Department of Energy's Use of the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility at the Oak Ridge Reservation (2013) (IG-0883). The 14-page report available here, discusses the following:

[t]he Environmental Management Waste Management Facility (EMWMF) is an above-ground waste disposal facility designed to meet the requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) manages the Department of Energy's (Department) contract with URS | CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC (UCOR), which has operated EMWMF since August 2011. We found that OREM had not maximized its use of available capacity at EMWMF, and as a consequence, may incur more than $14 million in unnecessary disposal costs. Specifically, OREM permitted its contractors to send minimally contaminated waste to EMWMF that may have otherwise been acceptable for disposal in the sanitary landfill at a much lower cost per unit. For example, contractor officials told us that from fiscal years 2002 through 2011, they had disposed of 140,000 cubic yards of material (minimally contaminated waste plus required fill) at EMWMF that likely could have been disposed of in the sanitary landfill at a much lower cost per unit. The Department of Energy (Department) had not established site-specific surface authorized limits for determining when certain types of minimally contaminated waste could be disposed of in sanitary landfills rather than in EMWMF. In the absence of such site-specific authorized limits, certain surface­contaminated wastes have been disposed of at EMWMF that potentially could have been safely disposed at sanitary landfills. Maintaining this approach could ultimately and unnecessarily utilize 11 percent of EMWMF's waste disposal capacity. During the course of our audit, UCOR recognized the issues we discovered and implemented procedures compliant with Department and landfill permit requirements to allow more waste to be disposed in the sanitary landfill; however, we believe that additional action is necessary to improve efficiency of waste disposal operations and conserve EMWMF capacity. Environmental Management generally concurred with the report and its comments were responsive to our recommendations.

CEC Final Draft Report Released: Hazardous Trade? An An Examination of US-generated Spent Lead-acid Battery Exports and Secondary Lead Recycling in Mexico, the United States and Canada

Recently, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, a collaboration between Canada, Mexico and the United States pursuant to the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), issued a final draft report titled, Hazardous Trade? An Examination of US-generated Spent Lead-acid Battery Exports and Secondary Lead Recycling in Mexico, the United States and Canada (2012). The 83-page report which was recently discussed in the New York Times, examines the following issues according to the abstract:

The independent report, written under the authority of NAAEC Article 13, was initiated in 2012 in response to concerns that a surge in spent lead-acid battery (SLAB) exports to Mexico in recent years was an effort to avoid the costs of stricter environmental and health protection laws prevalent in the United States. Lead is a persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic substance and how lead-acid batteries are recycled is an important economic, public health and environmental issue. A draft of the report had been made available by the Secretariat for public comments and benefited as well from the input of key stakeholders.

Key findings of the report include:

• Between 2004 and 2011, US net exports of SLABs to Mexico increased by 449–525 percent, and 221 per cent to Canada.

• The regulatory frameworks covering secondary lead smelters in the United States, Canada and Mexico do not provide equivalent levels of environmental and health protection.

• National cross-border accounts in all three countries do not accord with shipping or receiving volumes of SLABs from either sending or receiving countries.

• Notwithstanding Mexico’s permitting process, there are important gaps in its overall regulatory framework, as well as with respect to the prevailing environmental and public health standards in the United States and Canada.

The report also presents various recommendations to environmental authorities in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, that will enhance the protection of our shared environment, and the health of workers and communities.

Pursuant to Article 13 (3) of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, the Council will normally make the final report publicly available within 60 days of the submission, unless the Council decides otherwise.

New York State Hazardous Waste Facility Siting Plan -- NY DEC

The Siting Plan, produced by the New York State Department of Environmental conservation and required by ECL Section 27-1102, is primarily intended to assess the State's capacity for managing hazardous waste in accordance with State and Federal law, and to assure adequate availability of industrial hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities into the future. The final adoption of a Siting Plan is a prerequisite for the siting or significant expansion of certain new hazardous waste facilities in New York.

Potential Environmental Impacts: The Plan itself is a guidance document and has no direct environmental impacts. The GEIS does not replace the need for a separate and distinct site-specific EIS for any hazardous waste management facility that is proposed to be sited or expanded in New York State in the future.