Groundwater Conditions at Many Hazardous Waste Disposal Facilities Remain Uncertain

GAO discussed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) groundwater monitoring activities. GAO found weaknesses in the EPA program, including EPA failure to: (1) ensure that facilities met its established groundwater monitoring goals; (2) establish criteria for the type, amount, and quality of data needed for permit and groundwater program decisions; (3) establish sufficient technical standards and requirements for facility owners and operators to use in monitoring groundwater; and (4) develop or require facility owners and operators to implement quality control and assurance mechanisms to ensure data accuracy and appropriateness. GAO also found that: (1) 11 of the 50 facilities it reviewed met EPA and state groundwater monitoring goals, and the remaining 39 had not developed sufficient information to demonstrate their compliance with EPA requirements; (2) 43 facilities had not received their permits by 1987, and EPA deferred requiring corrective designs until after permit issuance; and (3) EPA used questionable data to make its permit decisions, and did not evaluate the quality of operator-provided data. GAO also found that EPA took corrective action to improve groundwater data collection, including requiring owners and operators to: (1) take better representative samples; (2) analyze all samples down to specific detection levels; and (3) meet established quality control standards.