EPA lifts ban on selling PCB sites; ' new interpretation of existing law'

[Guest guest]

Just when you think it cannot get any worse .......

 

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: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 6:12 AM

EPA lifts ban on selling PCB sites; ' " new interpretation " of

existing law'

 

 

> This decision is unconscionable both in fact and in interpretation.

>

> EPA lifts ban on selling PCB sites

> By Peter Eisler, USA TODAY

> WASHINGTON The Bush administration has ended a 25-year-old ban on the

sale

> of land polluted with PCBs. The ban was intended to prevent hundreds of

> polluted sites from being redeveloped in ways that spread the toxin or

> raise public health risks.

>

> The Environmental Protection Agency decided the ban was " an unnecessary

> barrier to redevelopment (and) may actually delay the clean-up of

> contaminated properties, " according to an internal memo issued last month

> to advise agency staff of the change.

>

> The decision, already in effect, has not been made public. It is being

> treated as a " new interpretation " of existing law, according to the memo,

> which was obtained by USA TODAY. As such, no public comment was required.

>

> Some EPA staffers have raised concerns that the change could make it hard

> to track the sale of PCB sites and ensure that buyers don't spread

> contamination by developing property before it's cleaned up, EPA officials

> say. The decision also is likely to upset environmentalists and their

> congressional allies who contend that the administration is easing

> environmental rules to promote development.

>

> The policy change opens a door for sales of property fouled with one of

the

> most widespread pollutants of the post-World War II era. EPA officials and

> other experts estimate that more than 1,000 pieces of land nationwide are

> contaminated. PCBs are present at about 500 of the 1,598 pollution sites

> listed by the EPA as national cleanup priorities under its Superfund

> restoration program.

>

> " I see real problems with the EPA and state agencies not having resources,

> especially in today's budget climate, to monitor these properties if they

> start getting transferred, " says Sean Hecht, who runs UCLA's Environmental

> Law Center. The ban on sales " provided leverage to force people to clean

up

> these sites. "

>

> The government believes that PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, probably

> cause cancer. Congress banned their sale and use beginning in 1978. The

law

> has long been interpreted as prohibiting the sale of polluted property

> unless PCBs had been cleaned up.

>

> The new interpretation was developed under EPA general counsel Robert

> Fabricant, who issued the Aug. 14 memo informing EPA staff.

>

> The policy shift does not affect cleanup standards and liability rules for

> PCB sites. The memo says the change is needed to resolve cases in which

> buyers want to clean up PCB-fouled sites that are owned by people who lack

> the money or ability to do it.

>

> " The new owner inherits responsibility for cleanup, " EPA lawyer Bob Perlis

> says.

>

> But the EPA already allowed its regional offices to waive the ban on

> selling PCB-contaminated land when a buyer is willing to clean it up.

> Regional officials say that process slowed the transfer of a few

properties

> but generally worked.

>

> " I didn't see a problem with the rules as they were, " says Peter deFur, a

> PCB expert who teaches at Virginia Commonwealth University and consults on

> PCB studies and cleanups. " The question now is whether some smaller (PCB)

> sites will fall through the cracks. "

>

> ABOUT PCBS:

> PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are an oily compound that

> was used widely until 1978 as a coolant and lubricant in electrical

> equipment because it had insulating qualities and was not flammable.

>

> PCBs are considered a probable cause of cancer in people and have

> been implicated in liver damage. They accumulate in fish and game

> that feed in contaminated areas and are passed on to people by

> eating the animals.

>

> It was PCB pollution that forced the abandonment 25 years ago of the

> Love Canal community in Niagara Falls, N.Y.

> http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-09-01-epa-usat_x.htm

>