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GAO-11-287R 1 (2011-02-18)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaanwn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: J A countability * Integrity * Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 February 18, 2011 The Honorable James M. Inhofe Ranking Member Committee on Environment and Public Works United States Senate Subject: Superfund: Information on the Nature and Costs of Cleanup Activities at Three Landfills in the Gulf Coast Region Dear Senator Inhofe: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that one in four Americans lives within 3 miles of a contaminated site, many of which pose serious risks to human health and the environment. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) provided the federal government with authority to respond to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances and created a trust fund to provide for certain cleanup activities. Under CERCLA, EPA established the Superfund program to address the threats that contaminated sites pose. Although EPA has paid for the cleanup of many of these sites through the Superfund program, funding for these cleanups has diminished in recent years. In 2010, we reported that EPA's estimated costs to clean up existing contaminated sites exceed the Superfund program's current funding levels and that some sites have not received sufficient funding for cleanup to proceed in the most cost-efficient manner.' Additionally, in July 2009, we reported that EPA does not collect sufficient information on the cost of cleanup activities at Superfund sites and recommended, among other things, that EPA assess and improve the data it collects on the status and cost of cleanups.2 EPA coordinates the cleanup of Superfund sites by identifying sites potentially requiring cleanup action and placing eligible sites on its National Priorities List (NPL). EPA may compel the parties responsible for contaminating these sites to clean them up, or the agency may, using resources from the trust fund established by CERCLA, conduct cleanups itself and seek reimbursement from responsible parties. In some cases, EPA may not be able to obtain reimbursement because the agency cannot identify a responsible party or the responsible party or parties may be insolvent or may no longer exist. 1GAO, Superfund: EPA's Estimated Costs to Remediate Existing Sites Exceed Current Funding Levels, and More Sites Are Expected to Be Added to the National Priorities List, GAO-10-380 (Washington, D.C.: May 6, 2010). 'GAO, Superfund: Litigation Has Decreased and EPA Needs Better Information on Site Cleanup and Cost Issues to Estimate Future Program Funding Requirements, GAO-09-656 (Washington, D.C.: July 15, 2009). In July 2010, EPA officials said that they were studying how best to improve the comprehensiveness and reliability of their Superfund data and were considering options for aggregating and communicating Superfund cost data. GAO-11-287R Superfund Landfill Cleanup Costs

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