The Superfund Program

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The Superfund program, which was better known as just Superfund, is also known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability act (CERLA) of 1980 was developed by the federal government as a way to preserve and protect the ecosystem and to clean up toxic, uncontrolled, abandoned hazardous waste sites. (Boorse & Wright, 2011, p.577). The Superfund program cleans up any hazardous waste, be it abandoned, accidentally spilled, or illegally dumped; any of which may pose a threat to future or current health or the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency works with the community, the responsible parties or the potential responsible party in identifying these hazardous waste sites in formulating plans to clean up these sites. Superfund provides laws and standards for the disposal and storage of such wastes. In addition, the Superfund program provides emergency financial support to existing environmental agencies to monitor removal of toxins, and to provide emergency cleanup services, provide monetary reparation to people who faced health or financial difficulties and concerns from toxic waste, and, if needed, to help enact emergency evacuation procedures. Superfund also provides for liability of persons responsible for releases of hazardous waste at these sites, and can establish a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries to make available for cleanup when no responsible party could be recognized. The National Priorities List, or NPL, is a list of the worst hazardous waste sites that have been identified by Superfund. (Boorse & Wright, 2011, p. 578). Any site on the NPL is eligible for cleanup using Superfund Trust money.

One particular site on the NPL is the Smokey Mountain Smelters Superfund Sit...

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... structure to encapsulation the property. The federal government would pay 90 percent of the cost, with the state picking up the other 10. Given the hazardous nature of the waste and the threats to human health and the environment, this process should begin immediately.

Works Cited

Boorse, D.F., & Wright, R. T. (2011) Environmental Science Toward a sustainable future (11th ed.) San Francisco, CA, Pearson Benjamin Cummings.

National Priorities List. (2011). NPL Site Narrative for Smokey Mountain Smelters. Retrieved March 29, 2011, from http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/nar1817.htm

Region 4 Superfund. (2011). Smokey Mountain Smelters. Retrieved March 30, 2011, from http:// www.epa.gov/region4/waste/npl/npltn/smokeymtnsmeltn.html

Superfund. (2011). Basic information. Retrieved March, 30, 2011, Retrieved from:

http://www.epa.gov/superfund/

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