Superfund: EPA Could Do More to Minimize Cleanup Delays at the Clark Fork Sites
RCED-92-20
Published: Nov 21, 1991. Publicly Released: Jan 07, 1992.
Skip to Highlights
Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed the progress and problems of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) cleanup of the Clark Fork Superfund sites in Montana, focusing on the: (1) extent and cost of cleanup work; (2) adequacy of cleanup plans; and (3) effectiveness of EPA efforts to recover cleanup costs.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental Protection Agency | To improve cost-recovery activities, the Administrator, EPA, should provide additional resources, as needed, to allow for the timely issuance of demand letters for the Clark Fork sites. In addition, the Administrator should conduct a cost-benefit analysis, as previously recommended, to determine whether additional resources should be requested for cost recovery to allow EPA to take advantage of the interest income to be realized from the timely issuance of demand letters for other Superfund sites and in other EPA regions. |
Closed – Implemented
Planned corrective actions for improving the speed and effectiveness of cost recovery are being considered by the Superfund Revitalization Team. Region VIII received additional resources for the timely issuance of demand letters. Until program improvements are implemented and evaluated, EPA believes a cost-benefit analysis is premature. EPA developed a multi-user cost recovery system, SCORE$.
|
| Environmental Protection Agency | To help minimize further delays in cleaning up the Clark Fork sites, the Administrator, EPA, should direct the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) to conduct periodic reviews of Region VIII's overall progress in cleaning up the Clark Fork sites, with a view toward identifying potential problems that could further delay cleanups and needed solutions to avoid and minimize such delays. OSWER could accomplish this by participating in the quarterly meetings that Region VIII's Montana Office plans to have with its work group to review the implementation of the Clark Fork master plan. Additionally, Region VIII and its Clark Fork sites could be included in the field studies that OSWER plans for reviewing the actions that EPA has taken in response to its June 1989 management review of the Superfund program. |
Closed – Implemented
On March 6, 1992, OSWER established a committee to review key planning documents for the Clark Forks site. OSWER now reviews clean-up progress and provides suggestions to keep the cleanup on schedule.
|
| Environmental Protection Agency | To improve its strategy for monitoring implementation of the Clark Fork master plan, the Administrator, EPA, should require Region 8 and its Montana office to include provisions in its strategy for: (1) assessing viable alternatives for avoiding or minimizing slippages in milestones; and (2) periodically notifying the public of its progress in meeting milestones, including slippages and the steps EPA is taking to deal with them. |
Closed – Implemented
EPA is still considering the need for this action and has yet to determine what, if any, action will be taken. The EPA Montana office has established procedures to periodically notify the public of its progress in meeting milestones. EPA officials are meeting with the main citizens groups every 3 months. In addition, the agency publishes notices of cleanup status and invitations for comments and meeting dates in the local newspapers.
|
Full Report
Office of Public Affairs
Topics
Cost analysisEnvironmental monitoringEnvironmental policiesstate relationsGovernment collectionsHazardous substancesLiability (legal)Pollution controlWaste disposalWaste management