Greener Cleanups
Green Remediation Focus
Visit EPA’s Green Remediation Focus
on the
CLU-IN website to find:
- Monthly news announcements
- Best management practices
- Site-specific profiles
- A contracting and administrative toolkit
At the Operating Industries, Inc. Landfill
Superfund site in Monterey Park, CA,
landfill gas is converted to useable energy rather than treated as a waste.
EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) established the Principles for Greener Cleanups as a foundation for improving the decision-making process involved with contaminated site cleanup, in a way that assures protection of human health and the environment and minimizes the environmental "footprint" of cleanup activities. OSWER cleanup programs incorporate the Principles in a manner that remains consistent with governing statutes and regulations and without compromising cleanup objectives, community interests, reasonableness of cleanup timeframes, or protectiveness of cleanup actions.
Topics
Basic Information
Greener cleanups address five core elements.Principles for Greener Cleanups
The Principles for Greener Cleanups describe EPA's approach to reduce the environmental footprint of cleaning up the nation's contaminated sites.Superfund Green Remediation Strategy
EPA’s Superfund Green Remediation Strategy sets out current plans of the Superfund Remedial Program to improve environmental outcomes of remedial and removal actions at Superfund sites.Greener Cleanup Consensus Standard Initiative
OSWER and regional offices are working with a standards development organization and other organizations to develop a consensus-based standard guide for greener cleanups.Regional Policies for Greener Cleanups
Each of EPA’s 10 regional offices implements a greener cleanup policy tailored to regional priorities and needs.Methodology to Understand and Reduce the Environmental Footprint
EPA’s methodology presents key metrics associated with contaminated site cleanup and a process to quantify those metrics.