Re: [CPEO-BIF] Illinois proposal for disclosure of water contamination

["Schnapf, Lawrence" <Lawrence.Schnapf@srz.com>]

This has been my point all along. The mere presence of contamination in
groundwater (or soil) above applicable standards is NOT currently
required to be reported under CERCLA unless there has been a release
that exceeds a reportable quantity (RQ).

Because the RQs are expressed in terms of quantity over a 24 hour
period, this creates a large and gapping loophole since there is usually
no way to know if the historial contamination that is discovered now was
a result of a two or three decade old spill that exceeded an RQ or a
drip,drip, drip over several decades.

As a result, historical contamination is not reportable at the federal
level nor in most states. This is why we can have corporate transactions
where both parties know where the bodies are buried but they agree not
to disclose and actually count on non-enforcement in pricing the deal
and estimating their cleanup costs. 

Larry  

-----Original Message-----
From: brownfields-bounces@lists.cpeo.org
[mailto:brownfields-bounces@lists.cpeo.org] On Behalf Of Lenny Siegel
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 11:50 AM
To: Brownfields Internet Forum
Subject: [CPEO-BIF] Illinois proposal for disclosure of water
contamination

[Doesn't federal law already require annual reporting of contamination 
(even below drinking water standards) in public water systems of a 
certain size? In most places, the debate seems to be over reporting 
contaminated groundwater plumes that threaten to pollute private wells 
or to enter homes as vapors, or requiring the sampling of private wells.

In my view, any party aware of groundwater contamination above drinking 
water standards should be required to report it to the relevant agency, 
and that information should be actively disclosed to the impacted public

as well as registered on a public available information resource, such 
as a web site. - Lenny]



Proposed law aims to prevent another Crestwood


BY NATHANIEL ZIMMER
Southtown Star (IL)
April 28, 2009

An increasing number of elected officials are calling for legislation 
that would make it harder for municipalities to get away with supplying 
tainted water to residents, as Crestwood has been accused of doing.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Monday became the latest to 
add her name to the list, proposing that the Illinois Environmental 
Protection Agency be required to directly notify residents by mail 
within two weeks if "a threat of exposure to contaminated drinking water

exists." In certain situations, current state law requires notification 
only of the owners and operators of a water supply system.

Madigan's proposal does not change the existing standard for determining

what constitutes a threat to health and when notification must be made, 
said Susan Hedman, environmental counsel in Madigan's office.

State Rep. Bob Rita (D-Blue Island), who represents Crestwood, is 
sponsoring Madigan's proposal in the House. "The people should have some

kind of notice," he said.



...

For the entire article, see
http://www.southtownstar.com/news/1547009,042809crestwood.article

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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