On January 11, 2002, President

Bush visited the Millennium

Corporate Center in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania to sign

bipartisan legislation that will

encourage the cleanup and redevelopment of old industrial properties.

Congress approved the bipartisan

bill without opposition in December

2001. The Small Business Liability

Relief and Brownfields Revitalization

Act will help clean up the environment, create new jobs, return productive property to local tax rolls,

and protect small businesses from frivolous lawsuits. 

Brownfields are abandoned or underutilized industrial or commercial properties

where redevelopment is hindered by possible environmental contamination and potential liability under Superfund for parties that purchase or operate these sites. EPA estimates that between 500,000 and one million

United States

Environmental Protection 

Agency

Office of Site Remediation 

Enforcement (2271A)

Washington, DC 20460

Winter 2002

EPA 300-N-02-005

Issue #9

inside

News 2

Co-Located Sites in Lowell,

MA Offer Opportunity for

Coordination 3

In the Courts: 4

Kayser-Roth Corp. 

3M, Krejci Dump Site

V-1 Oil Company

Private Lawsuits 

Calendar 8

Printed on recycled paper

cleanupnews

President Signs New 

Brownfields Legislation

CleanupNews is a quarterly

newsletter highlighting 

hazardous waste cleanup

cases, policies, settlements,

and technologies. 

Looking on as President Bush signs the Brownfields

legislation are (L-R): Rep. Paul Gillmor, R-OH; Rep.

Robert Borski, D-PA; State Attorney General Mike

Fisher; EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman;

Rep. Joseph Hoeffel, D-PA; and Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

EPA Signs Final Cleanup

Plan for Hudson River 

Plan Makes Public Involvement a Top Priority 

On February 1, 2002, EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman and Regional

Administrator Jane Kenny took a major step toward a healthier Hudson River by

signing a Record of Decision (ROD) on a cleanup plan for the river. The final plan

calls for dredging 2.65 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment from a 40-mile

stretch of the upper Hudson to remove an estimated 150,000 pounds of polychlorinated

biphenyls (PCBs). EPA also announced that it will establish a field office in the upper

Hudson region staffed by an experienced senior manager to coordinate design activities

in concert with the community. 

“The Hudson River is a national treasure and this plan brings us closer to one of my

overall goals -- leaving our water purer for future generations” said Whitman. “We are

moving ahead with this cleanup using an open process and

continued on page 6

continued on page 2

WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BY ERIC DRAPER
2 cleanupnews

“Fundamentals of

Environmental 

Justice Workshop”

Train-the-Trainer

Forum

A November 2001 “Train-theTrainer” forum brought

together 35 people representing EPA, state partners (California,

Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, New

York, Rhode Island), and diverse

stakeholders (community, tribal, and

faith-based organizations, academia,

and industry) to learn the fundamentals of environmental justice. The

forum was held in Boston at the EPA

New England offices, capping a yearand-a-half effort to develop and implement the workshop. Participants are

trained to identify and address environmental justice issues at work and

in communities, and to promote collaborative partnerships. In the next 

12 months, trainers will lead more

than 140 workshops and train more

than 3,000 people from EPA, other federal agencies, states, tribes, communities, and industry in this nationally

consistent, high quality curriculum. 

At the conclusion of the forum,

Regional Administrator Robert Varney

announced that his 800 employees will

participate in an appropriately tailored

version of the workshop. For more

information, contact Nicholas Targ at

202-564-2406.

$2 Million in 

Brownfields Job

Training 

In December 2001, EPA Administrator

Christine Todd Whitman announced $2

million in grants to provide environmental job training at brownfields sites

in nine states and Washington, D.C. Job

skills learned in the course of brownfields cleanup will help participants

pursue careers in the environmental

field, noted Administrator Whitman.

The ten new Job Training Demonstration Pilot Projects — in the District of

Columbia, Ohio, Rhode Island, Montana, Iowa, Indiana, Delaware, South

Carolina, Washington, and New York

— will be funded at $200,000 and are

targeted at individuals living in lowincome areas in the vicinity of brownfields sites. Most participants who successfully complete the training

program go on to pursue careers with

environmental firms and organizations.

Since the program started in 1998, 566

trainees have been hired at an average

hourly entry-level wage of $12.12. For

more information, contact Doris

Thompson at 202-260-4483. 

news & notes 

will incorporate performance standards that promote

accountability and ensure that we are protecting human

health and the environment.” 

A 200-mile portion of the Hudson River was declared a

federal Superfund site in 1984 because of widespread PCB

contamination over a 30-year period from two General Electric plants in Fort Edward and Hudson Falls, New York. The

PCBs have bioaccumulated in fish and pose a potential risk

of cancer and other health problems for the people who eat

them. The final ROD on a plan to clean up the river was

developed after years of scientific study and with extensive

public input. Continuing discharges of PCBs into the river

from General Electric facilities remain a concern. General

Electric is expected to take actions to control a major source

of PCBs coming from its Hudson Falls plant during the

design period for EPA’s cleanup plan. 

The design phase of the project — expected to take

three years — will include the development of performance standards and the siting of dewatering facilities in

consultation with a broad range of stakeholders. Two standards — for air quality and noise — are included in the

ROD, consistent with state and federal law. Enforceable

performance standards for re-suspension and production

rates during dredging will be developed in the first year of

the design phase, with input from the public, in consultation with state and federal natural resource trustees, and

subject to an independent scientific peer review. In addition, EPA will monitor PCB levels in fish and restoration of

aquatic vegetation. The standards will promote accountability and ensure that the cleanup meets the human and

environmental protection objectives of the ROD. 

A key element of the ROD is the commitment to a rigorous and meaningful community involvement program. EPA

will bring together elected officials, community groups, key

environmental organizations, and members of the public to

take a fresh look at the community involvement process.

EPA will hold a series of facilitated sessions to develop a

workable process. Jane Kenny will host public meetings in

Saratoga Springs and in Poughkeepsie to discuss the ROD

and next steps. EPA will continue to keep the public

informed throughout the project through a list server, public

meetings, fact sheets, and regular updates to the EPA Hudson River Web site. Copies of the final ROD and a summary

of responses to the 70,000 public comments are available at

www.epa.gov/hudson and at 16 information repositories

listed on the Web site. 

EPA Signs Final Cleanup Plan 

for Hudson River

continued from page 1
cleanupnews 3

What happens when a brownfields site is located near a

Superfund site? You get a

“co-located” site and a lot of interesting

things can happen. With a pilot project

in Lowell, MA, EPA is exploring

whether facilitators can help galvanize

a community in planning for the redevelopment of Superfund and brownfields sites together.

From a holistic point of view, there

are often obvious advantages to considering co-located sites at the same time.

Until now, however, EPA’s brownfields

and Superfund programs have avoided

overlap and communities have understood that the government’s grant

funding process keeps the programs

separate. The result has usually been

an active focus on redevelopment of

the brownfields property, while reuse

of the nearby or adjacent Superfund

site is not addressed at all.

At the Tanner Street industrial area

in Lowell, MA, EPA is aiming to

change that pattern. The project has

two broad goals:

• To demonstrate how a facilitator

can bring together community

interests in developing brownfields

and reuse of Superfund sites.

• To examine what synergies

emerge in the reuse of a Superfund site, and the development of a

brownfields site.

As part of the pilot project, the facilitator was charged with interviewing

key influential leaders, convening community groups to build a coalition for

action, facilitating a dialogue between

the groups, and identifying other

resources that could assist an emerging coalition accomplish its mission.

Lee Scharf, EPA coordinator for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) projects, noted, “This is an important

opportunity for two programs to coordinate.”

Facilitation has frequently been

used at both brownfields sites and

Superfund reuse sites to work with

community groups to help resolve differences. Facilitation is often a reactive

activity, however, brought into the

redevelopment efforts to assist groups

in moving past a sticking point. Facilitators usually end up assisting the

community in modifying, rather than

developing, proposals. By contrast, in

Lowell, facilitators have been involved

from the beginning of the project to

identify alternative pathways that have

the greatest likelihood of success.

Tanner Street

The Tanner Street area in Lowell, MA

is an old industrial road, in the middle

of which sits the Silresim Superfund

site, considered one of the worst

Superfund sites in Massachusetts.

Listed in 1983, the Silresim site consists of the original five-acre source

site that Silresim Chemical Company

occupied, and 22 acres of properties

located over a contaminated ground

water plume. Extensive removal of

stacked barrels of chemicals took place shortly after

the site was listed. A temporary cap is currently on

the source site. The original remedy proposed to

treat the ground water

plume with a soil vapor

extraction system to pull

back the volatile organic

compounds in the plume.

This treatment has not worked, and, in

the meanwhile, the plume has

expanded. Extraction wells recently

installed at the leading edge of the

plume are expected to halt the

progress of the plume while EPA sorts

through the best approach to cleanup.

Ground water treatment is likely to be

underway on the site for a number of

years. The final cap on the land area

may not be installed for another three

to five years.

The remainder of Tanner Street

consists of industrial lands — brownfields sites — that the city of Lowell

considers underutilized. This is the

last property in the city zoned for

heavy industrial use, and it is occupied

by a number of small businesses, some

of which are heavy polluters. The City

has a tax title interest in several Tanner

Street properties. Some of the businesses on Tanner Street have been

there for some time, including a 127-

year old iron and steel fabrication facility, several smaller holdings associated

with auto repair, and several junk dealers. Tanner Street is directly adjacent

to a major transportation artery (the

Lowell Connector) with good access

and egress. The Tanner Street industrial area also directly abuts a moderate

to low income residential neighborTanner Street, Lowell, MA.

Co-Located Sites in Lowell, MA Offer

Opportunity for Coordination

continued on page 7
4 cleanupnews

First Circuit Rules on

Liability of Parent

Corporation for 

Contamination

Caused by Subsidiary

in U.S. v. Kayser-Roth

On December 3, 2001, the United

States Court of Appeals for the

First Circuit issued a favorable

decision affirming a district court’s ruling that Kayser-Roth Corporation not

be allowed to have a 1990 judgment of

liability under CERCLA vacated. 

The First Circuit ruled that Kayser

remained liable as a direct operator

under CERCLA section 107(a) for

environmental contamination caused

by a subsidiary corporation, despite a

change in the law of CERCLA liability

for parent corporations since the 1990

judgment. In 1990, Kayser was found

directly liable as an operator under

CERCLA section 107(a) for CERCLA

response costs required to remediate

a site in North Smithfield, Rhode

Island, which had been contaminated

with hazardous wastes by a subsidiary

corporation of Kayser. In 1990, a district court had determined that Kayser

was liable as an operator under CERCLA section 107(a) because it exercised pervasive control over its subsidiary and because Kayser had the

ability to control the release of hazardous wastes by its subsidiary. 

Kayser sought to have the 1990

judgment of liability vacated under

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

60(b). Kayser argued that a 1998

Supreme Court case, United States v.

Bestfoods, 524 U.S. 51 (1998), established the standard for direct operator

liability under CERCLA of parent corporations alleged to be responsible for

environmental contamination caused

by subsidiary corporations, and that

the 1990 judgement was not in accord

with the standard required by Bestfoods. The district court ruled that

Kayser’s liability was not affected by

the Bestfoods decision and Kayser

appealed to the First Circuit. 

The First Circuit held that Kayser’s

exercise of control over its subsidiary’s environmental operations

and the ability of Kayser to control the

release of hazardous wastes by its subsidiary did satisfy the Bestfoods standard for direct operator liability of a

parent corporation under CERCLA

section 107(a) for a subsidiary corporation’s environmental contamination.

For more information, contact

Clarence Featherson, 202-564-4234.

[U.S. v. Kayser-Roth Corp. 2001 WL

1504690 (1st Cir. Dec. 3, 2001)]

District Court Awards

U.S. $23 Million in

Response Costs for

Krejci Dump Site

After finding Minnesota Mining and

Manufacturing (3M) joint and severally liable in a previous decision

(United States v. Chrysler, 2001 WL

1025335 (N.D. Ohio)), the district

court granted the United States’

motion for partial summary judgment

as to response costs incurred at the

Krejci Dump site.

3M argued that the United States

had failed to adequately document its

costs and therefore, the United States

was inconsistent with the National

Contingency Plan (NCP). The court

disagreed, and found that the NCP

does not contain any specific standards concerning the documentation

of costs. Rather, all the NCP requires

is that the United States provide sufficient documentation that renders an

accurate accounting of costs incurred

by the federal government. The court

found that contractor invoices, Project

Officer invoice approvals, and proof of

payment by EPA were sufficient to

support costs incurred at the site. The

court also noted that the United States

was entitled to its annual allocation

costs as 3M had failed to identify any

provision of the NCP that EPA’s

annual allocation methodology violated. The court reserved judgment

on roughly $1 million in costs due to

apparent mathematical errors and the

failure of the United States to provide

the court with the applicable indirect

cost rate. The court has scheduled a

bench trial to address these outstanding costs. For more information, contact David Dowton at 202-564-4228.

[United States v. Chrysler, 2001 WL

1181135 (N.D. Ohio)]

V-1 Oil Settlement

On November 28, 2001, the U.S. District

Court for the District of Idaho entered

as a final judgment a consent decree

that incorporates a $1.2 million settlement between the United States and 

V-1 Oil Company. The settlement had

been reached to resolve a civil action

brought by the Department of Justice

on behalf of EPA and the Coast Guard

against V-1 Oil Company concerning an

underground leak of gasoline from its

gas station in Preston, Idaho in 1996.

The case is the first in which EPA has

obtained a penalty for violation of an oil

cleanup order issued under section 311

of the Clean Water Act. 

The leak from the gas station led to

local ground water contamination,

dangerous fumes in neighborhood

home basements, and potentially

explosive levels in sewer lines. When

V-1 Oil was identified as the source of

the leak, the company denied responsibility and denied access to EPA,

state, and local investigators. With the

company later refusing to comply with

a subsequent EPA cleanup order, EPA

conducted a two-phase removal action

at the site. During the action, EPA

removed hundreds of gallons of gasoline from groundwater and about 200

cubic yards of contaminated soil.

in the courts 
cleanupnews 5

The suit was brought to recover

penalties for violation of the administrative cleanup order, which was

issued by EPA under authority of both

CWA section 311 and RCRA section

7003, and to recover funds expended

by the government for the site

cleanup. The $1.2 million settlement

includes a $478,000 penalty for V-1

Oil’s refusal to comply with the

cleanup order (50% of which will go to

the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for

the CWA section 311 order violation

and 50% of which will go to the General

Treasury for the RCRA section 7003

order violation), and $722,000 to

recover costs expended for the

cleanup (which will also go to the Oil

Spill Liability Trust Fund).

A consent decree incorporating

the settlement was lodged with the

court on May 2, 2001. A notice of the

settlement was published in the Federal Register on May 23, 2001, giving

the public 30 days to comment. The

only public comment received, from

an attorney in Preston, Idaho,

appeared to approve of the terms of

the settlement but expressed concern

that the amounts recovered would

not be used to fund additional cleanup

activities in the town. The commenter

also suggested that notice of the settlement provided was inadequate

because it was published only in the

Federal Register. The United States’

November 6, 2001, motion to enter

the proposed consent decree

addressed both of the commenter’s

concerns, and the court found that

the consent decree incorporating the

settlement was fair, reasonable, adequate, and consistent with the goals

of the Oil Pollution Act, CWA, and

RCRA. For more information, contact: Keith Cohon, EPA Region 10,

206-553-2149; Bob Kenney,

EPA/OSRE, 202-564-5127; or Mary

Andrews, EPA/ORE, 202-564-4011.

Private Lawsuits:

> Crofton Ventures Ltd. Partnership v. G & H Partnership, 258

F.3rd (4th Cir. 2001): The current

landowner brought a contribution action

under CERCLA section 113(f), against former

owners and operators to recover CERCLA

response costs incurred in cleaning up a

contaminated site and state common law

claims for fraudulent misrepresentation and

breach of contract. The district court entered

judgment in favor of former owner and operators on the common law claims and the

CERCLA contribution claim. The district court

held that the present owner failed to prove

that the former owners and operators actually dumped hazardous substances or had

knowledge of dumping or leaking during

their ownership or operation of site. 

The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district

court’s ruling on the common law claims but

vacated and remanded the district court’s ruling on the issue of liability. Consistent with the

Fourth Circuit’s opinion in Nurad, Inc. v.

Hooper & Sons, 966 F. 2d 837 (4th Cir. 1992)

(CERCLA liability imposed for passive migration), the Fourth Circuit held that a former

owner or former operator is liable under

CERCLA for response costs incurred in

cleaning up hazardous waste at a site, if

hazardous substances were either placed on

site or leaked into the environment from a

source on site (liability for disposal under

CERCLA encompasses passive migration),

whether or not the former owner or former

operator was the cause of disposal or even

had knowledge of the disposal. 

For more information, contact Clarence

Featherson at 202-564-4234.

> Aviall Services, Inc. v. Cooper

Industries, 263 F.3d 134 (5th Cir.

Aug. 14. 2001): On August 14, 2001, a

panel of the Fifth Circuit in a 2-1 decision

ruled (over a vehement dissent), that a person responding to a contaminated site has

no right of contribution against liable parties

for its response costs under CERCLA unless

that responding person is already the subject of an action under CERCLA section 106

or 107. In this case, Aviall Services, Inc. discovered contamination at industrial facilities

the company had purchased from Cooper

Industries, Inc. Aviall notified the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission,

and conducted a decade-long cleanup costing millions of dollars. Aviall sought contribution from Cooper under CERCLA section

113 and state law. The district court dismissed Aviall’s CERCLA claim and declined

to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over

the state law claims. A panel of the 5th Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling. Aviall

subsequently filed a petition for rehearing

en banc, which was granted by the Fifth Circuit. 

For more information, contact Clarence

Featherson at 202-564-4234.

> The Port of Redwood City v. Gibson Environmental, Inc., No. C98-

3501 TEH (N.D. Ca. Nov. 27,

2001): The Port of Redwood City brought

a CERCLA contribution action against several parties, including the United States. The

government filed a motion for summary

judgment (as did other parties) requesting

that the district court dismiss the Port’s

action. The court granted the government’s

request, holding that the Port had not followed the NCP when it cleaned up the site.

The Port claimed its response action was

a “removal” under CERCLA while the government claimed it was a “remedial” action

(thus requiring a more rigorous decision and

public notification process). In deciding that

the Port’s action were “remedial,” the court

looked at the complexity, cost, and duration

of the operation. The Port’s cleanup was over

$10 million, the investigation and response

actions are expected to take over six years to

complete, and the cleanup operation

involved removal of numerous tanks as well

as soil and ground water remediation. (In a

footnote, the district court declined to follow

Aviall Services, Inc. v. Cooper Industries, Inc.

(see above — no right of contribution unless

plaintiff’s response action was subject to a

section 106 or 107 action.))

> Kalamazoo River Study Group v.

Rockwell International Corp., 2001

WL 1602705 (6th Cir. Dec. 18,

2001): The Kalamazoo River Study Group

brought a CERCLA contribution action

against Rockwell. The appellate court

upheld the district court’s ruling that Rockwell had contributed only minuscule

amounts of PCBs (20 lbs) into the Kalamazoo River when compared to the Group’s

contribution of 100,000 lbs and that Rockwell should receive a zero allocation of

response costs. 
6 cleanupnews

brownfields tarnish the landscapes of

communities across America, typically

in urban areas.

The new brownfields law reforms

one of the major hindrances to

brownfields cleanup — liability provisions under the federal Superfund

law. The new law provides liability

protection for prospective purchasers, contiguous property owners, and innocent landowners. It also

authorizes increased funding for

state and local programs that assess

and clean up brownfields, and relief

from Superfund liability for small

business owners.

In his remarks, the President noted

that the Millennium Corporate Center,

where the signing was taking place,

had been the site of a steel foundry

that sat in disrepair for years until the

county began to redevelop it with a

grant from EPA. The 1,000th site redeveloped under Pennsylvania’s Land

Recycling Program, the Center is built

on the former site of the Schuylkill

Iron Works, and, when completed, it

will be the centerpiece of a 40-acre,

$115 million office, recreation, and residential development. More than 500

people already work at the new development. 

President Bush said, “As the

employees here know, when a business develops a brownfield, it turns a

stagnant plot of land into a productive

neighborhood. What we ought to be

asking in America is, what does it take

to create more jobs? ... Public policy

ought to figure out ways to make sure

that the entrepreneurs can succeed, so

that there is job creation taking place

all over the country. This is a good jobs

creation bill.

“Further benefit will come as businesses recycle older properties and

spare surrounding lands from development. There has been a lot of talk

about urban sprawl. Well, one of the

best ways to arrest urban sprawl is to

develop brownfields, and make them

productive pieces of land, where people can find work and employment. By

one estimate, for every acre of redeveloped brownfields, we save four and

a half acres of open space. 

“This legislation will also protect

small business owners from unwarranted Superfund liability. Lawyers

and governments used to tell small

business owners that because they

sent their trash to a landfill — and

because that landfill became contaminated — they were potentially liable

for cleaning up the entire site. 

“When government acts in such a

heavy-handed way, it hurts a lot of people, and works against its own purposes. It discourages small business

growth. With this bill, we are returning common sense to our cleanup program. We will protect innocent small

business owners and employees from

continued on page 7

Brownfields 

Legislation

continued from page 1

New Brownfields Legislation Highlights 

Here are highlights of Public Law 107-118, the Small Business Liability Relief and

Brownfields Revitalization Act:

Small Business Liability Relief (Title I)

• Exempts certain small volume contributors from Superfund liability

• Exempts certain contributors of municipal solid waste from Superfund liability

• Shifts court costs and attorneys fees to a private party if a private party loses a Superfund contribution action against de micromis or municipal solid waste exempt party

Brownfields Program (Title II - Subtitle A)

• Provides legislative authority for brownfields program including grants for assessment and cleanup

• Expands current brownfields program by increasing funding authority up to $200

million per year including up to $50 million per year to assess and cleanup brownfields with petroleum contamination

• Expands eligibility for assessment and cleanup grants

• New provision for direct cleanup grants of up to $200,000 per site

• Streamlines current requirements for the brownfields cleanup revolving loan fund

and makes funding available to nonprofits

• Applies Davis Bacon Act on same terms as authority for current program

• Makes funds available for technical assistance, training, and research

Brownfields Liability Clarifications (Title II - Subtitle B)

• Exempts certain contiguous property owners from Superfund liability

• Exempts certain prospective purchasers from Superfund liability

• Clarifies the innocent landholders defense to Superfund liability

State Response Programs (Title II - Subtitle C)

• Supports state and tribal response programs and preserves federal safety net

• Provides $50 million per year for state and tribal response programs

• Expands activities available for funding of state programs

• Provides Superfund liability relief for certain properties cleaned up under state

response programs
cleanupnews 7

unfair lawsuits, and focus our efforts

instead on actually cleaning up contaminated sites.”

EPA Administrator Christine Todd

Whitman noted, “With this new law,

we are better able to undo the errors

of the past and replace them with environmental partnerships that engage

the imagination of the American people. Together, we will clean up brownfields and provide a greener and

healthier future for our children and

grandchildren.” Whitman expects that

the new law will help reduce litigation

as well as removing barriers to redevelopment, by differentiating between

large contributors of toxic waste and

small businesses who disposed of only

small amounts of waste or ordinary

trash, and should not be considered

responsible parties.

At the signing, President Bush

also announced that his FY 2003 budget will double the funds available

through EPA in FY 2002 — from $98

million to $200 million — to help

states and communities around the

country clean up and revitalize

brownfields sites. Another $25 million in funding is included in the budget for urban redevelopment and

brownfields cleanup through the

Department of Housing and Urban

Development. The proposed FY 2003

budget would permanently extend

the Brownfields Tax Incentive.

According to government estimates,

the $300 million annual investment in

the Brownfields Tax Incentive will

leverage approximately $3.4 billion in

private investment and return 8,000

brownfields to productive use. 

For more information, contact KC

Schefski at 202-564-8213 or Matt

Sander at 202-564-7233.

hood, and backs onto a creek that

feeds into the Concord River.

In a series of interviews with local

government officials, business owners

on Tanner Street, residents of the surrounding neighborhood, and local and

regional lenders, a number of views

and concerns emerged. First, there

was widespread support for Tanner

Street remaining an industrial area

and interest on the part of some local

businesses in participating in reuse

efforts. Based on this initial assessment, a strategy was developed for a

facilitated effort that included creation

of an advisory committee, outreach to

the banking community and surrounding neighborhoods, continuing

outreach to business owners on Tanner Street, and development of a

widely accepted master plan for all of

Tanner Street.

Since April 2001, the city of Lowell

has been meeting with the Citizen

Advisory Board. With the help of a

visioning exercise of what the residents and industrial owners on Tanner

Street wanted the street to become,

the group collectively envisioned an

industrial use area with some recreational uses and amenities (such as

trails), repair of the street and sidewalks, and screening of the messier

industrial areas from view. This vision

has been incorporated into the plan

prepared by the Superfund reuse planner for all of Tanner Street, not just the

Silresim site. Reaction from the community has been generally very positive. The next step will be to present

the plan to the City Council. Meanwhile, a participatory evaluation is

underway. Lee Scharf points out that

the citizens will be highly involved in

the ongoing evaluation of the project.

“The citizens will create measures of

success, they’ll check in the middle on

where things stand, and evaluate the

effort at the end,” she said.

While it’s too soon to call it a success, the elements for success seem to

be in place. The city envisions a publicprivate partnership, and expects a lot

of support from industry in the area.

An ongoing steering committee is

under development to guide the implementation of the plan. In retrospect,

most participants agree, there would

have been no way to address the

brownfields problem effectively without considering the Superfund site, or

addressing the Superfund site without

looking at the whole street.

For more information, contact Lee

Scharf, EPA, at 202-564-5143, or Brian

Conners, Lowell Dept. of Planning and

Development, at 978-970-4276.

Lowell, MA

continued from page 3

Tanner Street

Brownfields 

Legislation

continued from page 6
calendar

CleanupNews is a quarterly publication of EPA’s

Office of Site Remediation Enforcement, in cooperation with the Office of Emergency and Remedial

Response, Office of Underground Storage Tanks,

Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention

Office, and the Technology Innovation Office.

Richard W. Popino, Ph.D., editor

EPA Review Board: Paul Connor, Karen 

Ellenberger, Kenneth Patterson, Helen

DuTeau, Jeff Heimerman

Gilah Langner, writer

Robin Foster, SciComm Inc., designer

To comment on the newsletter, contact Richard W. Popino at MC-2271A, U.S. EPA, 1200 

Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20460, e-mail: popino.rick@epa.gov.

For mailing list inquiries, contact Debra Kemp, SciComm Inc., 7735 Old Georgetown Rd, 5th Floor,

Bethesda, MD 20814, fax: 301-652-7001, e-mail: dkemp@scicomm.com.

cleanupnews www.epa.gov/oeca/osre

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$300

FIRST CLASS

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

EPA

PERMIT NO. G-35

CEPPO Chemical Emergency Preparedness

and Prevention Office

CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation, and 

Liability Act (Superfund law) 

CWA Clean Water Act

EPCRA Emergency Planning and 

Community Right-To-Know Act 

NCP National Contingency Plan

NPL National Priorities List (Superfund) 

OERR Office of Emergency and Remedial

Response (EPA)

PCB Polychorinated biphenyls

PRP Potentially Responsible Party 

RCRA Resource Conservation and 

Recovery Act (hazardous waste) 

ROD Record of Decision

RSD Regional Support Division

(OSRE/EPA)

SREA Superfund Recycling Equity Act 

TBA Targeted Brownfields Assessment

UST Underground Storage Tank

Glossary

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March 19-20, 2002

4th Biennial Freshwater Spill 

Symposium

Cleveland, OH

Beatriz Oliveira, 703-603-1229, 

oliveira.beatriz@epa.gov

March 10-13, 2002

14th Annual UST/LUST National

Conference

Kissimmee, FL

Sammy Ng, 703-603-7166,

ng.sammy@epa.gov

June 25-28, 2002

National Community Involvement

Conference

Portland, OR

Helen DuTeau, 703-603-8761,

duteau.helen@epa.gov