[CPEO-BIF] EPA Issues Draft Groundwater Remedy Completion Strategy for comment by December 20, 2013

[Lenny Siegel <LSiegel@cpeo.org>]

On October 29, 2013  U.S. EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency  
Response announced that it "is seeking input on a draft Groundwater  
Remedy Completion Strategy. The draft document provides a recommended  
strategy to help site teams focus resources on the information and  
decisions needed to effectively complete groundwater remedies.  
Groundwater remediation can take decades to achieve and is a  
component of most Superfund cleanup actions...."

It explains, "The draft Strategy describes a recommended step-wise  
plan and decision-making process for evaluating remedy operation,  
progress and attainment of remedial action objectives (RAOs) using an  
updated conceptual site model, performance metrics and site-specific  
data. We have designed the completion strategy to help the site team  
focus resources on the information and decisions needed to  
effectively move a site to completion and ensure protection of human  
health and the environment. Generally we believe that consideration  
of such a strategy may be appropriate throughout the cleanup process,  
and should help focus resources on evaluating the selected cleanup,  
its operation and progress toward attaining the RAOs and associated  
cleanup levels in a reasonable timeframe.

"The completion strategy includes example remedy evaluation questions  
and provides some criteria to consider during remedy decisions   
However, it does not provide policy direction for those decisions.  
The strategy also does not alter the Agency approach for setting  
remedial objectives or cleanup levels. In addition, the recommended  
strategy does not vhnage existing Superfund statutes, regulations,  
guidance or policy. The guidances does not address state of tribal  
groundwater classifications or use designations."

To see the original, complete cover-letter announcement go to
http://www.cpeo.org/pubs/ 
DraftGroundwaterRemedyCompletionStrategyCoverLetter10-29-13.pdf

To download the 22-page draft Strategy, go to
http://www.cpeo.org/pubs/GroundwaterRemedyCompletionStrategyDRAFT.pdf

If I find links on EPA's website, I will provide those as well.

Lenny

--

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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