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  4. EPA Says Thousands of High-Priority Tank Cleanups Remain

EPA Says Thousands of High-Priority Tank Cleanups Remain

Date: November 5, 2010

Source: US EPA

An EPA study on leaking underground storage tanks (UST) indicates that a significant number of high-priority cleanups have yet to be undertaken, with more than 70 percent of all types of releases discovered more than a decade ago. EPA researcher Sue Burnell presented findings from the study, which will undergo further revisions, to the Association of State & Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO) Oct. 27. EPA undertook the 14-state study as a foundation for finding strategies to reduce the number of sites still needing cleanup in the inventory, and to address why the annual number of cleanups has been declining.

While the study "does not provide an answer to how to solve the backlog," it does point to directions that might be taken to reduce the inventory of sites, such as accelerating corrective action and making program management changes, including targeted funding, to encourage an increased number of cleanups, according to Burnell. She noted that 13 percent of high priority releases have not started site assessment, and that of the high priority releases not in remediation, 64 percent occurred 10 or more years ago. The study found that the 14 states have closed 71 percent of their total backlog and that 71,814 releases remain in the inventory and still must be addressed. Nationally, 491,572 leaks have been reported since the beginning of the UST program in 1984 and 395,433, or 80.4 percent, have been cleaned up, leaving a backlog of 96,129 remaining to be cleaned up, according to EPA's semiannual report of UST performance measures released in June.

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