| Abstract |
The purpose of the report is to study the social and economic issues involved in cleaning up Superfund sites. EPA usually avoids making land use an explicit consideration when the Agency chooses a cleanup strategy. Yet post-remediation land use assumptions are part of the risk assessment calculation used in determining cleanup levels of Superfund sites. Evasion of significant issues, including use of the site after EPA and the state completes work, only frustrates a community's efforts to understand and cope with a hazardous waste site. A community's perceptions of how a site affects them-including economic effects, health problems, and a range of social and psychological issues-will inevitably affect use of the site affect after remediation is completed. Land use issues seem most controversial where great pressure exists for residential development near Superfund sites. Re-use of a contaminated site is usually more acceptable in industrial zones and undeveloped areas. In all areas, post-remediation use of sites will be shaped by public perceptions of the property and its effect on the commonwealth. Use of the formerly contaminated site, particularly for residential or public use, may depend on overcoming the taboo which forms during the process of site discovery, investigation, and many technical studies. |
