Superfund Response Actions: A Time Critical Removal at a Wood Treater Site

A portion of the environmental field thrives on taking toxicological studies, extrapolating human health based risks, and governing the life of certain materials and chemicals. This paper summarizes the science and engineering used to clean up a property contaminated with pentachlorophenol (PCP). The paper discusses statutes and regulations which deal with owner liability, federal authority to respond, and proper disposal of hazardous wastes. The paper also looks at the statistics used to achieve representative sampling, and data quality objectives. The paper also explains how removal action levels were determined, and at what cost. The project demonstrates how science has lead engineers, industry, and governments to spend billions of dollars in environmental clean-up. It is the author's intent to let the audience decide if sound engineering practices were used, and if current practices in the hazardous waste industry are indeed engineered and are up to par with the design and engineering practices used in other fields.