Suarez Resigns as Assistant Administrator 

On January 5, 2004, John Peter Suarez, EPA Assistant Administrator of the Office of 

Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), announced his resignation, which was 

effective January 30, 2004. Suarez accepted an offer from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. to serve 

as general counsel of its Sam’s Club division at Wal-Mart’s Bentonville, Arkansas 

headquarters. The team of six attorneys that will be under his charge represent 533 

Sam’s Club stores. Suarez was motivated by the opportunity to test his abilities in the 

private sector and spend more time with his family. Wal-Mart was pleased that he had 

accepted the offer. Sarah Clark, Wal-Mart company spokeswoman, said that Suarez 

would provide the company with “an invaluable source of new ideas and ways to 

continue to achieve and sustain strict compliance with the numerous complex laws and 

regulations that affect our business.” 

In his resignation letter to President Bush, Suarez, who served as assistant administrator 

for 18 months, highlighted recent achievements by OECA: “This past year, we recorded 

dramatic increases in environmental and public health benefits resulting from the 

enforcement cases we brought, and I fully anticipate that more such benefits will come in 

the years ahead.” OECA recently released its FY2003 compliance and enforcement 

results data which showed a 131 percent increase in environmental benefits over FY2002, 

$2.9 in injunctive relief, and 471 new cases initiated. During his time in office, Suarez 

developed the “Smart Enforcement” initiative, a commonsense enforcement approach 

that encourages targeting the most significant problems using the most appropriate 

compliance and enforcement tools to achieve significant results. In his letter to the 

President, Suarez noted the role Smart Enforcement played in achieving the FY2003 

results and said that the program will continue to bring positive results. 

Before being nominated by President Bush in April 2002 and confirmed by the Senate in 

August 2002, Suarez led New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement, which 

regulated the casino industry within the state. He has also served as Assistant Counsel to 

then New Jersey Governor, Christine Todd Whitman, and was an Assistant U.S. Attorney 

in the District of New Jersey from 1992 to 1998. 

To date, no replacement has been named. 

For additional information, please contact Dr. Richard W. Popino, OSRE, (202) 564-

5136. 

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Significant FY2003 Successes Announced 

In December 2003, the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) and 

Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) announced significant 

achievements in enforcement and hazardous waste cleanups for Fiscal Year 2003, which 

ended on September 30, 2003. The results demonstrate that both offices continue to 

excel in meeting the Agency’s goals of ensuring cleaner air, purer water, and betterprotected land. 

OECA 

The Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance reported a 131 percent increase in 

environmental benefits over FY2002. An estimated 600 million pounds of pollutants 

were reduced, treated, or managed, over double the amount addressed in FY2002. In 

criminal enforcement, OECA reported that 471 criminal cases were initiated. Beginning 

this year, OECA used a different procedure for counting initiated civil enforcement cases. 

Instead of counting cases with multiple facilities or environmental statutes as more than 

one case, they are now treated using a “one-for-one” count. Using this new counting 

system, OECA reported 268 civil judicial referrals, 1707 administrative penalty 

complaints, and 1582 administrative compliance orders for FY2003. Through 

enforcement settlements, violators will pay $2.9 billion in injunctive relief. 

Across the enforcement program, $167 million was assessed in administrative, criminal, 

and civil judicial penalties. During FY2003, settlers agreed to implement nearly $65 

million worth of Supplemental Environmental Projects during enforcement settlements. 

Assistant Administrator JP Suarez said that the OECA numbers “demonstrate the 

Administration’s commitment to a vigorous enforcement and compliance assurance 

program.” The results demonstrate the gains made through EPA’s policy of 

“enforcement first” and the recently implemented “Smart Enforcement” initiative, an 

effort to target the most significant problems using the most appropriate approach. 

OECA’s FY2003 compliance assurance and enforcement results are available online at: 

http://www.epa.gov/compliance/planning/results/press/2003eoy/index.html 

OSWER 

The Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response also announced significant 

accomplishments. The Superfund program completed cleanup of 40 high-priority 

Superfund sites in FY2003. In total, Superfund has cleaned 886 National Priorities List 

sites. The Superfund program’s FY2003 results are available online at: 

http://www.epa.gov/superfund/accomp/success/pdf/accomp03.pdf. The Office of 

Underground Storage Tanks (OUST) announced that over 18,500 underground storage 

tank cleanups were completed, up 17 percent from FY2002. The achievement meets the 

new national goal, beginning with the FY2003 cycle, for achieving more than 18,000 

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underground storage tank cleanups a year from 2003-2007. Through improved leak 

detection techniques and prevention, the number of new reported leaks dropped 

dramatically, to 12,000. Historically, the average number of new confirmed leaks has 

been 27,000. OUST’s FY2003 results are available online at: 

http://www.epa.gov/oust/cat/camarchv.htm. The Federal Facilities Restoration and 

Reuse Office (FFRRO) reported that 148 federal facilities sites are final, 13 sites have 

been deleted, and six sites have been proposed for listing on the National Priorities List. 

FFRRO’s Facts for Fiscal Year 2003 is available online at: 

http://www.epa.gov/swerffrr/documents/fy2003.htm. 

For additional information, contact Dr. Richard W. Popino, OSRE, (202) 564-5136. 

EPA Pursues Teck Cominco for Columbia 

Pollution 

Lake Roosevelt, a reservoir on the Columbia River in Washington State, is a pristine 

recreation area that draws nearly 1 million visitors each year and feeds the local economy 

through tourism. When sediment studies found evidence that contamination had 

migrated from upstream on the Columbia to Lake Roosevelt, EPA entered a unique 

enforcement situation: pursuing a Canadian company for transboundary contamination. 

In 2002, EPA conducted a sediment study of Lake Roosevelt and found slag 

contaminated with heavy metals, including lead, arsenic, and mercury. The 

contamination is attributable to several potentially responsible parties including a 

Canadian smelting company, Teck Cominco Metals Ltd., which has been identified as the 

largest contributor. Over the course of 100 years, 10-20 million tons of slag from the 

Teck Cominco Trail Smelter has traveled down the Columbia River to Lake Roosevelt. 

To date, Cominco has not been held accountable to U.S. environmental standards because 

it is a Canadian company. 

The findings of the sediment study were sufficient to warrant more extensive study of the 

lake and the primary source river, the Columbia River. Initially, EPA has decided to treat 

the Upper Columbia as a Superfund Alternative site (SAS), at least for now. As a SAS 

site, the Upper Columbia will not be listed on the National Priorities List, but Superfund 

cleanup standards will apply. 

Negotiations for the terms of the study and possible cleanup were initiated between Teck 

Cominco and EPA after the initial study findings. This past November, EPA ceased 

negotiations because Teck Cominco refused to enter into an Administrative Order on 

Consent to conduct a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study that met CERCLA 

standards. As Tom Eaton, Region 10’s Washington Operations Office Director, stated, 

Teck Cominco “refused to meet the standards that other U.S. companies must adhere to 

when they assess the environmental damage their operations have caused.” Teck 

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Cominco Deputy Chairman and CEO, David Thompson, argues that the company is not 

subject to CERCLA and is not within EPA’s jurisdiction. 

In a draft Order on Consent, Teck Cominco offered EPA $10-13 million for past costs 

and the continuing assessment study, but EPA refused. Dave Croxton of Region 10’s 

Office of Environmental Cleanup maintained that the agreement was “substantively 

inadequate” and that EPA would “have no faith in the results” of the study if conducted 

using Teck Cominco’s proposed standards. According to Croxton, the studies proposed 

by Teck Cominco lack standard components of rigorous studies, including site 

characterization and fate and transport analysis. Also, Teck Cominco has not provided 

for financial assurance or indemnification. 

On December 11, 2003, EPA issued a Unilateral Administrative Order (UAO) to Teck 

Cominco requiring an extensive site contamination study that meets EPA standards. 

Teck Cominco has since rejected the UAO. Also, the Canadian government has sent a 

diplomatic letter to the US State Department asking for the UAO to be rescinded and 

expressing concern that EPA is pursuing Teck Cominco under CERCLA. In its letter, the 

Canadian government suggests that the case may set an “unfortunate precedent” by 

fueling transboundary environmental liability cases by both countries. On January 14, 

2004, US Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) submitted a letter 

to EPA Administrator Leavitt expressing their support for EPA’s issuance of the UAO. 

They support EPA Region 10’s efforts to pursue an alternative approach that would 

“avoid costly, and possibly lengthy, litigation” but urge that CERCLA standards must 

apply, Teck Cominco should pay all study and cleanup costs, and stakeholders should 

“have a voice” regarding studies and the cleanup. 

For additional information, contact David Croxton, EPA Region 10, (206) 553-6694. 

Ecological Soil Screening Level Guidance 

Released 

The Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response released the final version of 

Guidance for Developing Ecological Soil Screening Levels (Eco-SSLs) this past 

November. The guidance is the result of collaboration between federal and state 

agencies, industry, consulting, research institutes, and universities through an Office of 

Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation workgroup. Prior to releasing the 

guidance, the workgroup consulted the EPA’s Science Advisory Board for commentary, 

and the draft guidance underwent a formal peer review at a public workshop. 

Eco-SSLs are contaminant concentration levels that are protective of ecological receptors 

(e.g., mammals, birds, or plants) that might have contact with the soil, directly or 

indirectly. The need to establish Eco-SSLs and document the derivation process arose 

from the lack of peer-reviewed soil screening values and from the desire to streamline the 

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ecological risk assessment (ERA) process at hazardous waste sites. The Eco-SSLs will 

make the ERA process more efficient and cost-effective by reducing redundancy, 

increasing consistency, and decreasing potential oversight. The derivation process is 

outlined in the guidance, allowing other parties to develop additional Eco-SSLs for 

contaminants for which Eco-SSLs have not been established. 

In setting out to draft the guidance, the workgroup established a list of 24 contaminants 

comprised of 17 metals (including arsenic, chromium, and lead) and seven organics 

(including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). EPA created the contaminant list using 

contaminants of concern reported in recent Records of Decision for National Priority List 

sites and contaminants recommended for inclusion by the EPA regional Biological 

Technical Assistance Group Coordinators. If contaminants of concern are present in soil 

at concentrations above the derived Eco-SSL, the environment may be adversely 

affected, and the soil contaminants may require further evaluation in the baseline 

ecological risk assessment. The Eco-SSLs can be used to make the screening-level risk 

calculation for a Superfund Ecological Risk Assessment. They are not intended to be 

used as cleanup levels nor is it appropriate to use or modify the Eco-SSLs as cleanup 

standards. 

Eco-SSLs have not been established for all of the contaminants. To date, interim EcoSSLs and documentation are available for aluminum, antimony, barium, beryllium, 

cadmium, cobalt, dieldrin, iron, and lead. 

The guidance is available online at: http://www.epa.gov/ecotox/ecossl/index.html. 

For additional information, contact Stephen Ells, Office of Superfund Remediation and 

Technology Innovation, (703) 603-8822. 

H.O.D. Landfill Designated Ready For Reuse 

Thanks to the vision and commitment of Antioch, Illinois community leaders and many 

others, high school athletic fields and wetlands will occupy land once used as a landfill. 

When complete, the athletic fields will give Antioch Community High School much 

needed field space, and the wetlands will be used for educational purposes. 

During a November 12, 2003 ceremony, Region 5 Administrator Tom Skinner presented 

the town of Antioch with Ready for Reuse documents for H.O.D. Landfill, thereby 

allowing the redevelopment of the site for recreational use to begin. The Superfund site 

was the second site to receive the RfR designation, and the first such site in the Midwest. 

An RfR determination indicates that a site is ready to be redeveloped or reused for a 

particular purpose. The designation is given when site remedies are considered 

protective of human health and environment and are consistent with its intended future 

use. As long as the conditions of land use and remedial standards established in the 

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cleanup decision and land title documents continue to be met, the RfR determination 

remains effective. 

The athletic fields and cross-country trails are being developed with help from a 

Superfund Redevelopment Initiative Program grant and the cooperation of local 

stakeholders and sponsors. Through a $550,000 grant from the Illinois Department of 

Commerce and Community Affairs, $850,000 in revenue bonds, and a partnership with 

Waste Management, Inc., the school is already using a methane-gas conversion station. 

The station uses flare gas from the landfill to generate electricity, and the exhaust fumes 

from the gas-driven turbines are used to pre-heat the school’s boiler water. Any excess 

electricity generated when the school is closed is sold to ComEd, the local utility 

company. Overall, the school will save an estimated $100,000 per year in natural gas 

costs. Antioch Community High School is only the second school in the nation to 

generate heat and electricity using landfill gas. 

The H.O.D. Landfill Superfund site was a municipal and industrial waste landfill from 

1963 to 1984. While in operation, the landfill collected approximately 1.5 million cubic 

yards of wastes, including wastes containing heavy metals and solvents which 

contaminated groundwater. The landfill stopped accepting waste in 1984, and the site 

was officially closed and capped with a clay cover in 1989. The site owner, Waste 

Management, Inc., performed the selected remedy under EPA oversight. The remedy 

included waste cap improvements, natural groundwater attenuation with monitoring, and 

leachate and gas extraction to prevent migration. In June 2001, cleanup of the site was 

considered complete. 

Redevelopment of the landfill was made possible through the collaborative efforts of the 

Antioch Community High School District 117, Antioch Township, ComEd, Illinois 

Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, Illinois EPA, U.S. Soccer 

Foundation, Village of Antioch, and Waste Management, Inc. 

For additional information, contact Thomas Bloom, EPA Region 5, (312) 886-1967. 

In the Courts 

Brief Opposes Alcan’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari 

On December 8, 2003, Solicitor General Theodore Olson filed a brief with the United 

States Supreme Court on behalf of the United States and the State of New York opposing 

Alcan Aluminum Corporation’s petition for a writ of certiorari. The petition requested 

that the Supreme Court review a January 7, 2003 Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruling. 

The circuit court agreed with a district court decision that Alcan is jointly and severally 

liable for approximately $13.6 million in cleanup costs. On January 12, 2004, the 

Supreme Court denied Alcan’s petition for writ of certiorari. 

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In its brief in opposition, the United States concurred with the Second Circuit Court of 

Appeals’ decision that Alcan is jointly and severally liable for EPA’s remaining cleanup 

costs at two sites, the Pollution Abatement Services (PAS) site in Oswego, New York, 

and the Fulton Terminals site in Fulton, New York. In its petition, Alcan questioned the 

lack of a quantity requirement in the CERCLA definition of a “hazardous substance.” 

The United States noted that this standard has been upheld without exception in court 

since even trace amounts of some hazardous substances can impact the environment. 

Alcan also asserted that the harm was divisible among the potentially responsible parties. 

The United States concurred with the court of appeals’ finding that Alcan failed to meet 

the necessary burden of proof that the harm was divisible through sufficient evidence at 

trial. Alcan also argued that a special exception to liability should apply, claiming that 

PCBs (which are man-made, not naturally occurring) can occur at background levels and 

that the PCB contamination identified was within background levels. The United States 

found this claim to be without fact, noting that Alcan presented no evidence of the predisposal PCB background levels. Also, one of Alcan’s cleanup contractors testified that 

the concrete at Alcan’s Oswego plant contained significant levels of PCBs and that the 

concrete contaminated the oil emulsion. 

Alcan was one of 83 parties found responsible for the contamination at PAS and Fulton. 

All parties but Alcan settled. Alcan admitted disposing more than 4.6 million gallons of 

waste oil emulsion containing PCBs and nickel at PAS, which represented roughly 25 

percent of the total waste volume. Settlements by the other parties resolved the other 75 

percent of the cleanup costs. 

The brief in opposition is accessible online through the US Department of Justice’s 

website at: http://www.usdoj.gov/osg/briefs/2003/0responses/2003-0433.resp.pdf. 

For additional information, contact Steve Botts, OSRE-RSD, (202) 564-4217. 

Consent Decree Lodged for Palmerton Zinc Pile 

On November 21, 2003, Judge Kosik of the United States District Court for the Middle 

District of Pennsylvania entered a consent decree for the Palmerton Zinc Pile Superfund 

Site in Palmerton, Pennsylvania. The consent decree settles the cost recovery case 

between the United States and the two potentially responsible parties (PRPs), Horsehead 

Industries, Inc. and Viacom International Inc. One of the parties, Horsehead, filed for 

bankruptcy protection in August 2002; therefore the consent decree was forwarded to and 

has been approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of 

New York. 

The consent decree requires that the parties reimburse EPA $13 million and the 

Department of the Interior $400,000 for past costs; implement the remedies specified in 

the Records of Decision (estimated at $27 million); and pay for future response costs. 

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For future response costs up to $1.75 million, the parties will use proceeds from a special 

account created by a 1999 de minimus settlement for the site. Also, Horsehead agreed to 

drop its counterclaims under Sections 107 and 113 of CERCLA; to complete cleanup of 

the cinder bank as required by a 1995 consent decree; and to pay EPA for past oversight 

costs for revegetating Blue Mountain. 

Over 70 years of zinc smelting operations, a predecessor to Horsehead and Viacom 

deposited 33 million tons of slag, which resulted in a 21⁄2 mile long cinder bank that is 

100 feet high and 500 to 1,000 feet wide. Emissions from the smelting operations, which 

were laden with heavy metals, killed 2,000 acres of vegetation on Blue Mountain. To 

protect human health and the environment, EPA recommended revegetating Blue 

Mountain; securing the cinder bank and treating the contaminated leachate; 

decontaminating metals-contaminated soils throughout the Borough of Palmerton, which 

is home to 5,000 residents; and an area-wide Remedial Investigation and Feasibility 

Study (RI/FS) on the groundwater and surface water. The RI/FS was not addressed in the 

consent decree. Horsehead and Viacom have begun implementing some of the 

recommended remedies. To date, construction has been completed on the cinder bank, 

and EPA and the PRPs are reviewing test plot data for the revegetation of Blue Mountain. 

For additional information, contact Cynthia Nadolski, EPA Region 3, (215) 814-2673. 

Tidbits 

PRP Search Manual Available Online 

The Office of Site Remediation Enforcement (OSRE) recently posted the September 

2003 PRP Search Manual online. The manual was announced by OSRE director Susan 

Bromm in a memorandum to Superfund national policy managers and regional counsel 

on September 10, 2003, and hard copies were provided to EPA’s regional and 

headquarters offices. OSRE will keep the manual current through regular online updates. 

Users can download the entire manual or individual chapters and appendix items at: 

http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/publications/cleanup/superfund/prpmanual/ind 

ex.html 

An article on the manual appeared in the CleanupNews II November 2003 issue. To view 

this and other past articles, go to the CleanupNews website at: 

http://www.epa.gov/Compliance/resources/newsletters/cleanup/cleanupnews.html. 

For additional information, contact Nancy Deck, OSRE, (202) 564-6039 or 

deck.nancy@epa.gov 

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$2.7 Million for Superfund Cleanup Studies Awarded 

On December 11, 2003, the Office of Research and Development announced that $2.7 

million in grants would be awarded for risk assessment and cleanup methods for 

Superfund sites. The grant recipients were University of California, Riverside 

($200,000); Florida A&M University (two grants totaling $796,000); St. Thomas 

University ($192,000); Lincoln University ($398,000); College of Mount Saint Vincent 

($389,000); Central State University ($337,000); and the University of Texas, San 

Antonio ($391,000). The selected projects include an analysis of risk communication and 

how it impacts community participation, a study of arsenic’s properties and the potential 

use of phytoremediation, and a risk assessment study of using phosphate-based remedial 

technology at sites with metals or mining waste. 

Additional details about the studies that received grant funding are available through the 

National Center for Environmental Research website at: 

http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipients.display/rfa_id/308. 

2004 National Corrective Action Conference Scheduled 

The 2004 National Corrective Action Conference will be held May 11-12, 2004 in 

Orlando, Florida. This annual conference brings together industries subject to RCRA 

regulation, consultants, state regulators, and EPA regional project managers to discuss 

corrective action progress. Through the conference, EPA fosters the effort to find faster, 

flexible, and more focused approaches to successful remediation activities. 

This year’s conference will focus on the most significant RCRA corrective action issues 

including: 2005 and 2008 Environmental Indicators, streamlining RCRA reforms, state 

cleanup programs, emerging technologies, policies and guidance, regional success stories 

and strategies, and partnerships with industry. 

Conference details and online registration are available through the conference website 

at: http://www.nationalcaconf.com/2004/. 

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Calendar 

May 11-12, 2004 

2004 National Corrective Action Conference 

Orlando, FL 

http://www.nationalcaconf.com/2004/ 

June 15-17, 2004 

Accelerating Site Closeout, Improving Performance, and Reducing Cost Through 

Optimization Conference 

Dallas, TX 

Contact: Alina Martin, SAIC 

(703) 318-4678 

http://www.clu-in.org/siteopt/CFA_v1.pdf

June 15-18, 2004 

2004 Community Involvement Conference 

Denver, CO 

Contact: Theresa Trainor 

(202) 566-1250 

http://www.epancic.org/2004

Glossary 

CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability 

Act 

Eco-SSL Ecological soil screening level 

EPA Environmental Protection Agency 

ERA Ecological risk assessment 

FFRRO Federal Facilities Restoration and Reuse Office 

OECA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance 

OSRE Office of Site Remediation Enforcement 

OSWER Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response 

OUST Office of Underground Storage Tanks 

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PAS Pollution Abatement Services 

PCBs Polychlorinated biphenyls 

PRP Potentially responsible party 

RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 

RfR Ready for Reuse 

RI/FS Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study 

SAS Superfund Alternative Site 

UAO Unilateral Administrative Order 

Subscription Information 

Richard W. Popino, PhD REM, editor 

EPA Review Board: Diane Bartosh, Paul Connor, Karen Ellenberger, Jeff Heimerman, 

Kathleen Johnson, Kenneth Patterson, Neilima Senjalia, Suzanne Wells 

Christine Rueter, Betsy Anderson, Sarah Heberling, DPRA, Inc., writers 

Ruth Colville, DPRA Inc., senior designer 

Lauren Grantham, DPRA, Inc., designer 

To comment on the newsletter contact Richard W. Popino, PhD REM, at MC-2271A, US 

EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20460, 

email:popino.rick@epa.gov. 

CleanupNews is a quarterly publication of EPA’s Office of Site Remediation 

Enforcement, in cooperation with the Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology 

Innovation, Office of Underground Storage Tanks, and Office of Emergency Prevention, 

Preparedness and Response. Past issues of CleanupNews can be found at 

http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/newsletters/cleanup/cleanupnews.html

To receive CleanupNews by email, join the listserv at 

http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/listserv/cleanup.html. 

We have developed an electronic supplement to the CleanupNews print edition called 

CleanupNews II. The print issue will still be available four times a year, and the 

newsletter will be delivered electronically eight times a year (four issues consisting of the 

print edition text and four issues consisting of supplemental news). 

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