Development of cleanup standards at Superfund sites: An evaluation of consistency

Journal Article · Mon Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992 · Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/10473289.1992.10467026· OSTI ID:7263299

Booth, P N; Jacobsen, M A ^[1]

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1. PTI Environmental Services, Bellevue, WA (United States)

The Washington Department of Ecology (WDOE) recently developed a regulatory program for determining cleanup standards at hazardous waste sites. One of WDOE's first tasks in the development of a cleanup standards program was to evaluate how standards have been developed and implemented under Superfund. The evaluation of cleanup standards revealed: (1) a great deal of variation among sites, both in magnitude of the standards set for some contaminants and the basis on which they were set, and (2) that there is no consistent decision-making approach for determining how standards should be set. This lack of consistency and guidance has the potential to result in overly stringent or underprotective cleanup requirements and inefficient standard development. Washington State has adopted an approach that allows for implementing uniform numerical cleanup standards at relatively straightforward sites and provides a process for establishing site-specific cleanup levels at more complex sites. This approach is expected to facilitate development of standards that offer appropriate human health and ecological protection while minimizing private and public sector site management and cleanup costs.

• OSTI ID: 7263299
• Journal Information: Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association; (United States) Vol. 42:6; ISSN JAWAE; ISSN 1047-3289
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
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Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
DECISION MAKING
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
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FEDERAL REGION X
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
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NORTH AMERICA
POLLUTION LAWS
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US SUPERFUND
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