Re: LAND USE: HAUNTING QUESTIONS

[Vernon Brechin <vbrechin@igc.org>]

From: Vernon Brechin <vbrechin@igc.org>

Reply to "A Modest Proposal for Halloween 1996" 
Conf. 631 <cpro.military@igc.org> Career/Pro 

My historical view. 

Sam Goodhope is correct in urging communities and state 
regulators (and, for that matter, EPA), to take steps now to 
avoid being haunted years later. 

I hope that the exposure of the proposition's mythical nature 
will not require the intervention of much litigation and result 
in the waste of resources and time. 

My understanding is that regulatory instruments such as CERCLA 
were originally created to serve the general public and 
contained tools for fining federal agencies which were out of 
compliance. When this power to fine was tested in a Federal 
Court it lost, leaving the EPA in a timid position. Since 
Federal Courts and Federal Agencies can't be relied upon to 
regulate each other the burden is passed back to the general 
public who require enormous resources to challenge the Feds. 

CERCLA was created with many legal loopholes and there are many 
forces out there that would like to dump the law or modify it so 
that Mack trucks can drive through the loopholes. This law may 
not be useful for litigation that may occur decades from now. 

It is true that there is a gauntlet of applicable remediation 
laws, but there is also the danger that federal judges may throw 
up their hands in frustration when confronted with the 
complexity of cases and they will rule in favor of the polluting 
federal agencies rather than plow through all the Byzantine 
regulatory laws. 

The myths, concerning future land use policy decisions 
(and so-called "institutional controls"), need to be blatantly 
exposed now, before they become the purview of expensive legal 
attorneys and the courts. 

=================================================================
What follows is a Department of Energy (DOE) cleanup definition 
that may interest some readers. The Ten Year Plan is expected 
to play a significant role in the formulation of the FY 1998 
Congressional Budget Request for the DOE's Nevada Test Site. 
.................................................................
DEFINITIONS: 

Complete Cleanup: That land, facilities, and materials are 
determined to be remediated to a condition where they are 
adequately safe to be available for alternative use, based on 
future land use policy decision, with a minimum cost for 
long-term surveillance and monitoring. Facilities where only 
surveillance and maintenance are to be performed, or where 
remedies such as groundwater pump and treat operations are 
installed and operational, or where the government will retain 
storage responsibilities are considered to be complete for this 
purpose. 
.................................................................
Source: 
"DOE/Nevada Operations Office Environmental Management Ten Year 
Plan," September 17, 1996, Draft Revision 3, page 3. 

=================================================================

Vernon J. Brechin