LAND USE: HAUNTING QUESTIONS

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

From: Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>

A Modest Proposal for Halloween 1996.

I concur with Don's comments and would only add that whether DoD has
to come back to clean up to a higher standard in the future will be
determined by the courts. DoD can say what it wants, but DoD's liability
will ultimately be determined by courts interpreting a range of applicable
remediation laws, including CERCLA, RCRA, state superfund law, state
solid and hazardous waste laws, federal and state clean water laws,
and toxic tort law.
The proposition that DoD can circumscribe its liability in the coming
decade by factoring future land use (and so-called "institutional
controls") into the cleanup decision-making process is a myth.
Unfortunately, in order to establish the proposition's mythical nature,
there will be the much litigation and waste of resources and time.
It is critical, however, that communities and state regulators (and, for
that matter, EPA), take steps now to ensure that they are not saddled
with agreements (formal or otherwise), understandings, and
assumptions that may come back to haunt them years later.
Happy Halloween!

Sam Goodhope