|
USTs at Brownfields Sites: Technology Options for Tank Remediation
 |
|
 |
| A
Quick Look |
| For several years EPA has
supported community efforts to return Superfund sites to use through
the SRI. |
| The "Return to Use" initiative
focuses on National
Priorities List sites that were cleaned up before EPA's current
emphasis on considering reuse during response activities. |
| EPA will review remedies in place to identify alterations to the remedy to encourage reuse. |
| EPA's new Ready for Reuse Determination is a tool that is used to indicate to the marketplace a property's suitability for reuse. |
| EPA will establish demonstration projects through partnerships with communities to overcome obstacles to reuse. |
 |
|
 |
Of the estimated 450,000 brownfields sites in the United States, approximately
100,000 to 200,000 contain abandoned USTs or are affected by leaks of
petroleum from such tanks. EPA and many state and local leaders are committed
to achieving sustainable development and preserving green space by cleaning
up and reusing these petroleum brownfields, which are often located on
corner lots and in other prime locations. Reusing abandoned gasoline stations
helps to preserve green space, reduce urban sprawl, and reduce the distance
that people have to travel, thus decreasing air pollution. Such sites
as the West Ogden Pocket Park, a former service station, had been used
for illegal dumping and were eyesores to the Chicago community. Cooperation
between the Chicago Department
of Buildings, Department
of the Environment, and Department
of Transportation led to tank removal, site remediation, and site
restoration. In summer 2001, the West Ogden Pocket Park opened, adding
much needed green space to its neighborhood.
With so many UST sites requiring remediation, EPA is promoting faster,
more effective, and less costly alternatives to established cleanup methods.
EPA and states are continuing their legacy of developing and disseminating
innovative tools to address petroleum brownfields. A Ready-for-Reuse Determination
is one such tool. It is being used in Sayre, Oklahoma and other places
to acknowledge that the site has been cleaned up and is ready and available
for a particular type of reuse. Site inventories are helping bring property
owners together with end users who may want to use the properties.
Although established technologies such as P&T systems or excavation and
disposal in a landfill, have proven effective and are frequently used,
innovative technologies may be applicable for cleanup of USTs. EPA’s OUST
has worked with EPA’s ORD
to foster development of innovative site assessment and cleanup technologies,
such as field measurement techniques, soil vapor surveying, vacuum-enhanced
free product recovery, active and passive bioremediation, and MNA. OUST
continues to encourage scientifically sound, rapid, and cost-effective
corrective action at UST sites. It also encourages the use of expedited
site assessments as a means of streamlining the corrective action process,
improving data collection, and reducing the overall cost of remediation.
The May 2004 publication Technologies
for Treating MtBE and Other Fuel Oxygenates is an example of new
informational materials that are relevant to UST remediation.
Prior to the enactment of the Small
Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act or Brownfields
Law, petroleum-contaminated sites were not eligible for traditional brownfields
funding. Therefore, in 2000, to encourage the reuse of abandoned properties
contaminated with petroleum from USTs, OUST created the USTFields
Initiative. A total of 50 projects were awarded up to $100,000 each
to assess, clean up, and restore high-priority petroleum-impacted sites.
Although no additional USTFields pilot projects will be awarded funds,
opportunities to address relatively low-risk petroleum sites are now available
through the brownfields assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund grants.
In addition, high-priority and high-risk sites can be addressed by states
through the Leaking
Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Trust Fund.
The Brownfields Law expanded the original EPA Brownfields Program by
making relatively low-risk petroleum sites eligible for brownfields assessment
and cleanup grant funding and by allotting 25 percent of the funding strictly
for petroleum brownfields assessment and cleanup. Previously, petroleum
sites were ineligible for brownfields grants funding. In 2004, EPA awarded
close to $23 million in brownfields grants to assess and clean up petroleum-contaminated
sites. Recipients included abandoned sites such as gasoline stations,
industrial properties, and retail properties that contain or are perceived
to contain petroleum contamination.
 |
|
 |
| Key Resource |
|
EPA’s Office
of Underground Storage Tanks Internet Site
Hosted by EPA’s OUST, the Internet site provides
resources and tools to help owners and operators of UST sites and
brownfields stakeholders better assess their options for operation,
maintenance, and cleanup of USTs. Information and guidance about
technologies suitable for cleaning up releases from UST systems
are provided, as are details about current federal UST regulations
and UST program priorities, including specific details about the
USTFields Initiative.
Points of contact in each of the EPA regional offices also are identified.
An extensive number of UST publications can be viewed online or
downloaded at no charge. In addition, information about state-sponsored
UST programs, including links to state Internet sites, is provided
on OUST’s site at www.epa.gov/oust/states/index.htm.
Some of the more recent publications available at www.epa.gov/oust/pubs/index.htm
include:
- How to Evaluate Alternative Cleanup Technologies for Underground
Storage Tank Sites: A Guide for Corrective Action Plan Reviewers
(EPA 510-R-04-002), May 2004
- Underground Storage Tanks: Building on the Past to Protect
the Future (EPA 510-R-04-001), March 2004
- Reuse of Abandoned Gas Station Sites (EPA-510-F-04-001),
February 2004
|
 |
|
 |
For more information see the following resources:
|
|
|
Sunday, September 7, 2008
|
|
