| Abstract |
EPA estimates that 80% of the known RCRA-regulated facilities nationwide require clean-up of contamination. The Northwest RCRA Program has taken a progressive approach to protecting and restoring its environmental resources through aggressive clean-up of contamination at RCRA regulated facilities. The document details the Northwest RCRA Program's strategy for investigation and clean-up of contamination at or from facilities, including releases from past disposal practices. The document also describes the collective EPA/State principles guiding Northwest RCRA corrective action program and major clean-up decisions such as prioritization of the investigation and clean-up of the RCRA facilities and the identification of clean-up standards. The major principle guiding the program is to address the 'worst case' first, based on a priority ranking scheme described in the strategy. Topics contained in the strategy include: the RCRA corrective action process, prioritization of facilities for corrective action, authorities for initiating corrective action, definition and management of the corrective action pipeline, clean-up and performance standards, corrective action oversight, owner/operator initiated corrective action, corrective action at Federal facilities, EPA/State partnership, corrective action resources, financial responsibility, and state/regional corrective action capability. |
