Procedures For Assessing Potential Natural Resource Damages At Superfund Sites

Abstract

Before Type A or Type B regulations can be implemented to assess damages at a Superfund site, a thorough site investigation must determine the potential for injury to, destruction of, or loss of marine natural resources. This examination is based on data collected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency @PA) during the Remedial Investigation (RI) process. If no past or potential future damages are evident, a release for natural resource damages to the responsible parties may be in order; if damages are probable, a regulated damage assessment may be appropriate. The procedures to determine whether such an assessment is warranted require a review of the RI and other historical and scientific data concerning impacts to natural resources. The decision to conduct an assessment usually is not clear-cut and involves weighing site-specific factors (e.g., site history, settlement opportunities) and often using partially adequate data. This paper discusses the procedures involved in making these decisions and uses Superfund sites in Massachusetts (Re-Solve) and in Delaware (Wildcat Landfill) as examples. NOAA worked with EPA throughout the RI of the Re-Solve site to determine both human health risks and injury to natural resources. It was clear from the study and the subsequent remedial plan that contamination from the site would not impact the habitats used by anadromous fish species. It is probable that a significant number of catadromous American eels bioaccumulated polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in their tissue in excess of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standard of 2 parts per million (ppm). To determine that natural resources were being damaged, bioaccumulation needed to be translated to injury. A comprehensive biological assessment conducted for the Wildcat site showed no current impacts to the NOAA habitats or resource. Site remediation included some wetland habitat destruction; EPA, Federal, and State trustees developed a restoration and wetland replacement remedy that obviated the need for damage assessment. It is apparent from these sites, and others like them, that site data limitations or other extenuating circumstances will result in decisions conceming potential natural resource damages and settlements based on both site-specific factors and professional judgment.