10.2190/A5JM-6UJU-UGCA-4JMU A5JM6UJUUGCA4JMU 279 EFFICACY OF CERCLA REMEDIES IN LIGHT OF FIVE-YEAR REVIEWS 279 298 20040803 20040803 20040803 20040803 A5JM6UJUUGCA4JMU.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=A5JM6UJUUGCA4JMU 4 ELIZABETH K. HOCKING J.D. LOU MARTINO M.S. Argonne National Laboratory, Washington, DC <P>Reviews of several remedies selected and implemented under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), as amended, revealed deficiencies in remedy protectiveness although the remedy had only been in place for five years. Many of these deficiencies should have been foreseeable, and therefore preventable, at the time the remedy was selected. </P><P>Analysis of successes and deficiencies noted in the CERCLA five-year reviews highlights the pivotal role that monitoring plans and land use controls have in ensuring remedy protectiveness. The analysis demonstrated that remedy protectiveness assessments and remedy modification justifications depend on robust site and remedy monitoring plans as well as on adequately developed conceptual site models. </P><P>Comprehensive understanding and inferences regarding past, present, and future land and resource use at the remedy selection stage can enhance remedy protectiveness because stakeholders can determine if land use controls are necessary and if they can be implemented and enforced. The findings from this analysis of five-year reviews of remedy protectiveness are applicable to initial remedy selection decisions and subsequent enhancements of their effectiveness through time.</P> U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Comprehensive Five-Year Review Guidance, EPA 540-R-01-007, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, Washington, D.C., June 2001. SC&A, Five Year Review Report, SC&A, Inc., Denver, Colorado, November 1999. IT Corporation, Final Record of Decision Operable Unit 2, prepared for Headquarters, Air Training Command/DEEV Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, December 1992. IT Corporation, Final Five-Year Review Report for Williams Air Force Base, Mesa Maricopa County, Arizona, prepared for Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence, Brooks Air Force Base, Texas, June 2001. CH2M Hill, First Five-Year Review Report for Homestake Mining Company Superfund Site Cibola County, New Mexico, prepared for Region 6, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Dallas, Texas, September 2001. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, First 5-Year Review of the Non-Populated Area Operable Unit Bunker Hill Mining and Metallurgical Complex Shoshone County, Idaho, Region 10, June 2000. CH2M Hill, First Five-Year Report for United Creosoting Company Superfund Site, Conroe, Montgomery County, Texas, prepared for Region 6, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Dallas, Texas, September 2000. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Carrier Air Conditioning Superfund Site Five Year Review, Region 4, August 2000. CH2M Hill, First Five-Year Review Report for Vertac Incorporated Superfund Site, Jacksonville, Pulaski County, Arkansas, prepared for Region 6, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Dallas, Texas, July 2001. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Use of Monitored Natural Attenuation at Superfund RCRA Corrective Action, and Underground Storage Tank Sites, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Directive 9200.4-17, Washington, D.C., April 1997. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Record of Decision Amendment, Denver Radium Site, Operable Unit VIII, Denver, Colorado, Region 4, June 2000. U.S. Air Force, Final Remedial Process Optimization Handbook, prepared for Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence, Technology Transfer Division, Brooks Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, and Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), Environmental and Safety Office, DSS-E0, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, June 2001. U.S. Department of Energy, A Report to Congress on Long-Term Stewardship, Vol. 1--Summary Report, Washington, D.C., January 2001. Radian International,Guidance for Optimizing Remedial Action Operations (RA), Interim Final, prepared for Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center, April 2001. M. Ridley and D. MacQueen, Cost-Effective Sampling of Groundwater Monitoring Wells: A Data Review and Well Frequency Evaluation, U.S. Army Environmental Center, December 2000. National Research Council, Long-Term Institutional Management of U.S. Department of Energy Legacy Waste Sites, Washington, D.C., 2000.