The Superfund law specifies a process for reporting potentially contaminated hazardous waste sites to the Federal government. The most serious sites are cleaned up using Superfund authority. Some will be cleaned up by State governments, and some will require no cleanup because they pose no danger to people or the environment. The extent of the hazards of exposure posed by each site discovered are assessed. Tied to the concept of exposure is the concept of risk .
Risk is a measure of the probability of suffering harm or loss.
Environmental risk is a measure of the probability that hazardous substances will harm the environment. There are two types of risks associated with hazardous substance contamination. The risk of exposure is a measurement of the probability that being near a hazardous substance will lead to exposure of a person or the environment. The risk of injury after exposure depends on the toxic or other harmful effect associated with the particular contaminant. For more information on risk identification, see the Suggested Reading list found at the end of the Haz-Ed materials.