Superfund Program
Enacting Law: Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)
Enactment: 1980 Passed by Congress in response to the environmental problems identified pursuant to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the American public's concern after the discovery of the Love Canal in New York and the Valley of Drums in Kentucky. It was the first federal law dealing with the dangers posed by America's most hazardous waste sites.
Purpose: To identify and cleanup America's most hazardous waste sites and to recover cleanup costs from owners and operators of Superfund sites
Administration: Enforced by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Initial program: $1.6 billion allocated for a duration of 5 years
EPA to clean sites first and collect fines later
Original National Priorities List (NPL) included only 120 sites
Superfund History: The Superfund program established stricter standards for handling hazardous substances. The EPA released a national list of the 418 most hazardous waste sites. CERCLA expired in September 1985, but the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986 effectively became the "new and improved version" of CERCLA. With this, Superfund was reborn.
Basic EPA Cleanup Procedure includes aspects such as the identification of potentially responsible parties (PRPs), legal procedure, and community involvement and the study of the waste sites' characteristics (location, types, and amount of waste).
CONTENTS OF A CD ON SUPERFUND PROJECT
Produced by: Jeff Gunderson, Minnesota Sea Grant
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE REPORTS
The following .pdf files are from the U.S. EPA Environmental Justice project "Assessing and Communicating Risk: A Partnership to Evaluate a Superfund Site on Leech Lake Tribal Lands."
• An Executive Summary
• Groundwater Panel Report
• Human Health Risk Assessment Panel Report
• Ecological Risk Assessment Panel Report
• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2
• Appendix 3
CHEMICALS OF CONCERN
Information was collected from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Web Site: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov - on contaminants that may be associated with the Superfund Site located in Cass Lake, MN. A sub-folder was created for 17 contaminants/chemicals of concern. Each sub-folder contains three files - 1. ToxFAQ, 2. Public Health Statement, and 3. Toxicity Profile. Explanations of each follow.
1. Toxic Substance Frequently Asked Questions
The ATSDR Tox FAQs is a summary about the hazardous substance. It was developed by the ATSDR Division of Toxicology. Information for this series is excerpted from the ATSDR Public Health Statements and Toxicological Profiles (see below). Each fact sheet serves as a quick and easy to understand guide. Answers are provided to the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) about exposure on human health. To go directly to the ToxFAQ for a particular hazardous substance, just click on it.
Arsenic
DDT
Nitrophenols
Chlorophenols
Dioxins
PAHs
Chromium
Fuel Oils
PCBs
Copper
Gasoline
Pentachlorophenol
Creosote
Hydraulic Fluids
Phenol
2. Public Health Statements
The ATSDR Public Health Statements are summaries about hazardous substances developed by the ATSDR Division of Toxicology. The information in these Public Health Statements has been taken from Chapter One of their respective ATSDR Toxicological Profiles (see below). Each Public Health Statement serves as a summary for that complete Toxicological Profile. The Public Health Statements provide information in a question and answer format which address the most frequently asked questions about exposure to hazardous substances found around hazardous waste sites and the effects of exposure on human health. To go directly to the Public Health Statement for a particular hazardous substance, just click on it.
Arsenic
DDT
Nitrophenols
Chlorophenols
Dioxins
PAHs
Chromium
Fuel Oils
PCBs
Copper
Gasoline
Pentachlorophenol
Creosote
Hydraulic Fluids
Phenol
3. Toxicity Profiles
By Congressional mandate, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) produces "toxicological profiles" for hazardous substances found at National Priorities List (NPL) sites. These hazardous substances are ranked based on frequency of occurrence at NPL sites, toxicity, and potential for human exposure. Toxicological profiles are developed from a priority list of 275 substances. So far, 261 toxicological profiles have been published or are under development as "finals" or "drafts for public comments." To go directly to the Toxicity Profile for a particular hazardous substance, just click on it.
Arsenic
DDT
Nitrophenols
Chlorophenols
Dioxins
PAHs
Chromium
Fuel Oils
PCBs
Copper
Gasoline
Pentachlorophenol
Creosote
Hydraulic Fluids
Phenol
HELPFUL INFORMATION
There are four Adobe Acrobat files in the "Helpful Information" Folder.
Click on the file to go directly to it.
1. Concentrations.pdf -This file contains information to help understand the units used to describe chemical concentrations. It helps describe the differences between parts per million (ppm), parts per billion (ppb), parts per trillion (ppt). This may be very useful to have handy when reviewing data collected at the site.
2. Conversion Tables.pdf -This file helps convert between metric and English units.
3. Glossary of Terms.pdf -This file (which came from the ATSDR Web Site) provides definitions for many of the terms frequently used in discussing contamination and health risks.
4. Chemical Hazard Label.pdf -This file describes the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standard system for indicating the health, flammability, and reactivity hazards of chemicals. In addition, a special precaution symbol may be used where necessary. The hazard label for each contaminant is found in the ToxFAQ file for each chemical/contaminant.
Powerpoint presentation on groundwater movement and contamination at the Superfund site on Leech Lake Tribal Lands. Click Here to download
More info on the St. Regis Paper Company Site
The St. Regis Corporation operated a wood treatment facility in the town of Cass Lake, located wholly within the exterior boundaries of the Leech Lake Reservation, from 1957 to 1985. The Champion International Corporation ("Champion") assumed responsibility for the Site in 1985. Champion leased portions of the Site to Burlington Northern Railroad, and quit claimed a large portion of the site to the City of Cass Lake and to the Band in 1988. The International Paper Company assumed responsibility for the Site in July of 2000.
Known chemicals used at the Site included creosote, pentachlorophenol ("PCP"), No. 2 fuel oil, ketone, and a chemical for preserving wood referred to as "CCA" comprised of copper, chromium and arsenic as a salt solution. Dioxins and furans are also chemicals of concern ("COCs") at this Site, originating as contaminants of industrial grade PCP. Additionally, the Band believes that the Site has not adequately been characterized, and other contaminants may be present, including but not limited to PCBs, DDTs, Mercury, Quinolines, and Carbozoles, for which additional work must be done to characterize and determine action levels for cleanup.
On September 21, 1984 EPA placed the St. Regis Paper Company Site (the "Site") on the National priority List ("NPL"). The State of Minnesota Pollution Control Agency ("MPCA") was the responsible government unit ("RGU") for this Site until 1995, when the EPA became the RGU at the request of the Band.
The Site, as originally designated, was comprised of four operable units ("OU"). OU1 was the Treating Facility; OU2 was the Cass Lake City Dump; OU3 was the Extension of the Cass Lake Municipal Water System; and OU4 was the Contaminated Soil Vault. In February 1985, the MPCA and Champion International Corporation ("Champion") signed two Response Orders by Consent under the Minnesota Environmental Response and Liability Act of 1983 ("MERLA") to implement an agreed remedial plan for the Site, one for the Wood Treatment Facility Area and one for the City Dump Pit Area at the former Cass Lake City Dump. These Orders provided for a remedial investigation and feasibility study of the Site; development and implementation of a Response Action Plan to abate or minimize the release of hazardous substances from the Site; and routine monitoring to determine the effectiveness of the response actions.
On March 5, 1986, MPCA issued two Minnesota Enforcement Decision Documents ("MEDDs") for the Site, one for the Wood Treatment Facility Area and one for the City Dump Pit Area. The MEDDs called for: (1) the installation of groundwater pump-out wells with granular activated carbon treatment which would pump and treat contaminated groundwater until acceptable levels are reached; (2) construction of a Resource Conversation and Recovery Act ("RCRA") on-site containment vault for the deposition of hazardous waste sludge and contaminated soil excavated during removal; (3) extension of the Cass Lake Community Water System to residents not serviced and potentially affected by groundwater contamination from the Site; (4) long term monitoring of the groundwater and surface water to determine the effectiveness of the groundwater pump-out system; (5) long term monitoring of the on-site contaminant vault; (6) long term monitoring of the treated groundwater discharge and selected fish species to determine the effectiveness of the groundwater treatment system; (7) long term operation and maintenance of the groundwater pump-out system; and (8) long term operation and maintenance of the on-site containment vault.
The response goals and objectives, as stated in the MEDD were to:
1) adequately protect the public against exposure to PCP, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons ("PAHs"), hexa hepta and octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin ("PCDD") and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-furans ("PCDF") isomers through direct contact or ingestion of groundwater from private and public water supplies.
2) adequately protect the public against exposure to PCP, PAH, PCDD and PCDF isomers potentially released to surface water from the groundwater.
3) adequately protect and minimize damage to the environment from the migration of PAH, PCDD and PCDF isomers in the groundwater.
See Minnesota Enforcement Decision Document, issued for St. Regis Paper Company, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, p. 10, March 5, 1986.
Construction of the remedial components of the selected remedy occurred between 1985 and 1987. Groundwater monitoring and vault operation and maintenance have been carried out since June 1987.
In 1995, the MPCA issued a Level 1 Five Year Site Review (First Review). The First Review was based upon a review of all documents associated with the removal action, a Site visit, and a limited ecological risk evaluation. On April 6, 1995, EPA approved the MPCA Five-Year Site Report. The First Review made a number of recommendations for further investigation at the Site, including further analysis of dioxin/furans in fish and sediments, and further monitoring to fully characterize Site groundwater contamination. It also concluded that the ground water RA would remain protective with the implementation of new ARARs (which have not been implemented); and that the RA protectiveness for soils could not be determined because concentrations of contaminants in the soils were unknown.
On January 24, 1995 EPA issued a Unilateral Administrative Order (the "106 Order") under Section 106 of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. Section 9601 et seq to Champion. The 106 Order, among other things, required Champion to continue to perform certain remedial activities originally undertaken pursuant to the two February 26, 1985 MEDDS issued by the MPCA under MERLA to abate an imminent and substantial endangerment to the public health or welfare or the environment. At that time, oversight authority changed from state-lead to Federal-lead, at the request of the Band.
In the 106 Order, EPA also re-defined the operable units at the Site as follows: OU1 or the "Wood Treatment Facility Area" was defined as the portion of the Site known as the Wood Treatment Facility Area; OU2 or the "Containment Vault Area" was defined as the portion of the Site known as the Contaminated Soil Containment Vault Area; and OU3 or the "City Dump Area" was defined as the portion of the Site bordered to the north by the Wood Treatment Facility Area, to the east by Pike Bay, to the south by Fox Creek, and to the west by the Containment Vault Area. The Band and EPA entered into a support agency cooperative agreement ("SACA") for the Site in 1995.
To date, three Five-Year Reviews of the Site have been completed. The First Review, was completed by the state of Minnesota in 1995 and the last two Five-Year Review was performed by EPA in 2000 and 2005. The Second Review, conducted after EPA resumed control over the remedial activities at the Site, included sampling and data assessment to fill data gaps identified by the first Five Year Review. EPA's sampling and data assessment activities indicate the presence of dioxins that exceeded EPA action levels and have resulted in several unilateral Administrative Orders for soil removal and Residential Dust Reduction.
An Additional Unilateral Administrative Order resulted in a Draft Human Health and ecological risk assessment sent out for review in December 2005. Agency partners have been reviewing and working through significant deviation in data collection, method analysis and exposure scenarios and calculations. All Partners hope to resolve these outstanding issues by the end of May 2007 and allow International Paper to prepare a second draft based on agencies comments and recommendations.
Links
Contact Us
(218) 335-7400 DRM
| Name | Title | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Brown, Levi | Environmental Director | 335-7417 |
| Helgeson, Jason | Hazardous Waste Manager | 335-7447 |
Division of Resource Management
15756 State 371 NW