Using best available scientific information in assessing the involvement of energy industries at Superfund sites

The US Congress is currently reauthorizing the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund). Enacted in 1980, CERCLA has been criticized for its costly and time-consuming requirements, unfairness, need for better scientific information, and lack of progress in reducing health and environmental risks. This paper describes the development of a database of energy-industry involvement at Superfund sites, using the best available scientific information. It illustrates the difficulties in reporting, compiling, and assessing data as currently managed under CERCLA. It also presents analytical results, indicating the number of sites at which there has been energy-industry involvement (roughly one-fourth to one-third of all Superfund sites), and for these sites, the numbers of energy companies that are potentially responsible parties (about 500 individual companies), the estimated cleanup costs (an average of $18 million per site), and the volumetric shares of hazardous waste contributed by energy companies (up to one-third of the volume at sites with energy-industry involvement). Such results provide a basis for evaluating impacts of Superfund changes on energy companies.