Hazardous Waste

Responsible Party Clean Up Efforts Require Improved Oversight Gao ID: RCED-86-123 May 6, 1986

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed cleanup activities at priority hazardous waste sites, specifically: (1) the number, estimated value, and purpose of settlement agreements between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and responsible parties; and (2) how well EPA is overseeing responsible-party compliance with the settlement terms.

GAO found that: (1) approximately half of the settlements were for long-term site cleanup activities, and cleanup work was valued at $417 million; (2) the purpose of the settlement agreements was to ensure that responsible parties either performed cleanup activities at hazardous waste sites or reimbursed the government for cleanup at the sites; and (3) no formal guidelines or procedures exist for project managers to oversee settlement activities and enforce decisions, causing delays in identifying and resolving problems.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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