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Superfund's 25th Anniversary: Capturing the Past, Charting the Future
Photo History Project
Superfund Turns 25 in California
On December 11, 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (also known as "CERCLA" or "Superfund"), creating a federal program to clean up the nation's uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. Through Superfund, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its partners are authorized to address abandoned, accidentally spilled, and illegally dumped hazardous wastes that pose current or future threats to human health or the environment.
While Congress passed the law, it was up to EPA to create the Superfund program. Over the first 25 years, EPA developed new and innovative ways to conduct cleanups. Important research examined how contamination migrated into groundwater, and new technologies provided improved methods to treat, store, and dispose of wastes. EPA took steps to ensure that communities near hazardous waste sites had a strong, meaningful voice in cleanup decisions, including determining how to reuse land after a cleanup. The Superfund program also pioneered methods to ensure that the parties responsible for contamination were held responsible for the cleanup.
Over time, Superfund evolved into a strong and effective program. By Superfund's 25th Anniversary, construction work had been completed at 966 or 62% of Superfund private and federal sites, and work had begun at an additional 422 sites. Strong partnerships ensured that federal properties were addressed and that communities were part of the process. Superfund's emergency response program had taken action at thousands of sites to reduce immediate threats to human health. These actions included a substantial role in addressing the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the 2001 anthrax attacks, the Columbia space shuttle disaster, and hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Through Superfund's Redevelopment Initiative, former Superfund sites were developed into model airplane fields, airports, major department stores, soccer fields, golf courses, wildlife refuges and many more productive uses.
However, work remains and the Superfund program continues to evolve to address new challenges. Each year, during the course of assessing potentially hazardous waste sites, Superfund finds previously unknown chemicals and wastes. Through research and the development of new technologies, the program finds ways to properly address potential threats to human health and the environment.
EPA commemorated the Superfund's 25th Anniversary through completion of a photo history project and an oral history project. The Photo History Project visually captures the people and places of Superfund, the human and environmental impacts of Superfund sites, and the changes in communities resulting from site cleanups. Two photos from each EPA region, selected from 300 submissions, were displayed at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. The Oral History Project serves as a permanent record of the recollections of 40 people who played an instrumental role in shaping the Superfund program. The project captures interviews with legislators, community members affected by hazardous waste sites, government officials who implemented the program, and industry representatives. To request a copy of the Oral History CD, please contact Freya Margand.
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