The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking public comment on a new strategy that would make cleanups at hazardous waste sites greener.
The Superfund Green Remediation Strategy is an initial effort to outline key actions and related activities that can be undertaken to promote green remediation and to reduce energy use.
EPA is taking comment on action items that fall into three major categories: policy and guidance development, resource development and program implementation, and program evaluation. The strategy also contains several recommendations including a call for EPA to implement a series of near-term program initiatives, and to establish a baseline of Superfund energy usage. The public comment period is open for 60 days.
Reducing the demands placed on the environment during cleanup of contaminated land is a high priority for EPA. In addition to the new strategy, EPA has developed Principles for Greener Cleanups. The principles call for EPA’s cleanup programs to use greener approaches during any phase of site work and establish the goal of evaluating cleanup actions to ensure protection of human health and the environment while reducing the environmental footprint of cleanup activities, when feasible. Cleanups that do not satisfy threshold requirements for protectiveness or do not meet site specific cleanup objectives, are not considered greener cleanups.
More information on the strategy: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/greenremediation
More information on Principles for Greener Cleanups: http://www.epa.gov/oswer/greencleanups/index.html
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) strategic plan calls for increased research and
application of sustainable systems that promote environmental stewardship, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions, and improve energy efficiency. One area of this research is green remediation. Green remediation
is a relatively new approach to environmental cleanup; expanded from the traditional perspective through
the addition of best management practices (BMPs) and a series of new criteria for consideration. EPA’s
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) is working with private and public partners to
promote the use of BMPs for green remediation at contaminated sites throughout the United States.
At the request of Adventus Americas, Inc. (Adventus), Maul Foster & Alongi, Inc. (MFA) completed a
review of four potential green remediation technologies (EHC®, emulsified oil, electrical resistive heating,
and pump and treat) for an active cleanup site where groundwater is contaminated with trichloroethene
(TCE). The technologies reviewed for potential use at this site were evaluated using federal requirements for
green acquisition as defined by Executive Order 13423-2007 and EPA’s Green Remediation: Incorporating
Sustainable Environmental Practices into Remediation of Contaminated Sites. The full report is available at http://www.adventusgroup.com/pdfs/Rf_Adventus_Sustainability_Evaluation.pdf
How effective has OSWER been in the past? Public private partnerships with government intermediaries are tricky relationships. Regardless, this is clearly a step in the right direction.
Robb Hughes
Head of Sales and Marketing
Green Meetup
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