[CPEO-BIF] ELI releases State Superfund Study, 2001 update

[seeger@eli.org]

Stewardship Commitment for Contaminated Sites Inconsistent Among States

For immediate release: December 12, 2002
Thousands of brownfields and other contaminated sites are being returned 
to beneficial uses as a result of state programs, yet many of these 
sites lack adequate measures to protect site users from any 
contamination that may be left, according to a new report by the 
Environmental Law Institute. States have cleaned up more than 29,000 
sites since the first program began in 1976, but they fail to ensure 
long-term stewardship. "An Analysis of State Superfund Programs: 
50-State Study, 2001 Update" reveals gaps in state programs for assuring 
that public health and safety will be protected from residual 
contamination over the long term.

For more than a decade, ELI has examined cleanup programs throughout the 
50 states, the District and Puerto Rico, issuing six reports that 
outline state statutes, program organizations, staffing, funding, 
expenditures, cleanup standards, and cleanup activities. The 2001 
Update, the seventh installment in a series of studies funded by U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, highlights states' increased use of 
long-term stewardship and institutional controls. Such controls are of 
growing importance due to the increasing use of remedies in voluntary 
and brownfields cleanup programs that allow residual contamination to 
remain on restricted sites. States and the federal government use 
institutional controls, or legal and administrative measures, to protect 
the public from harmful exposure to leftover hazardous substances. 
Forty-three states and the District use such measures at some or all of 
their sites, but implementation is inconsistent.

"Some states don't use institutional controls at all sites where they 
are needed," said John Pendergrass, ELI senior attorney and director of 
the Center for State, Local, and Regional Environmental Programs. 
"Colorado requires institutional controls at sites cleaned up under 
state mandate, but makes them optional for voluntary cleanup program 
participants. On the other hand, Indiana, Missouri, West Virginia, and 
Wyoming use institutional controls in their voluntary programs but not 
for mandatory cleanups."

Overall, the 2001 Update found that for fiscal year 2000, states 
completed 4,500 cleanups of sites not on the National Priority List. An 
additional 15,700 non-NPL cleanups are ongoing. The study found that 
states cleaned up about the same number of sites in 2000 as in 1997, 
while spending $505.6 million--$59.5 million or 10 percent less than 
three years earlier.

"An Analysis of State Superfund Programs: 50-State Study, 2001 Update" 
may be ordered from ELI for $49.95 plus shipping by calling (800) 
433-5120, via email to Pressrequest@eli.org or online at 
http://www.eli.org. For more information about the study or ELI's Center 
for State, Local, and Regional Environmental Programs, please contact 
John Pendergrass at (202) 939-3846.

ELI is an independent, non-profit research and educational organization 
based in Washington, D.C.
The Institute serves the environmental profession in business, 
government, the private bar, public interest organizations, academia and 
the press.

*****************
Please visit the Environmental Law Institute's Brownfields Center:
The Environmental Law Institute's Brownfields Center provides essential information on  brownfields cleanup and redevelopment with a focus on the concerns and needs of community groups across the country. The Center's goal is to encourage and support effective citizen participation in the redevelopment of brownfields.

http://www.brownfieldscenter.org

-- 
Elizabeth Seeger
Environmental Law Institute
1616 P Street, N.W.
Suite 200
Washington, DC  20036
PH: 202-939-3819
FAX: 202-939-3868
seeger@eli.org

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