Could the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recover cleanup fees from carriers that used a tank cleaning facility that is now on the EPA's Superfund list? That was a one of the regulation questions discussed during the National Tank Truck Carriers Tank Cleaning and Environmental Council Seminar March 30-31 in San Antonio.
Ron Farley and Katy Will of Burr and Forman LLP, Lindee Greer of WorkSteps, and Gary Carroll and James Hall of the WCM Group Inc updated the audience on current rules and regulatory actions.
Farley said that the EPA issued letters to about 140 carriers in an attempt to learn if they used the tank cleaning facility now on the Superfund list. The agency is attempting to recover $2.3 million for cleanup costs. The EPA eventually will determine which carriers used the facility, access their liability, and notify them accordingly, he added.
Superfund is an EPA environmental program established to address abandoned hazardous waste sites and was enacted in the wake of the discovery of toxic waste dumps in the 1970s. The law allows EPA to clean up such sites and to compel responsible parties to perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-led cleanups, according to the agency's information.
The council meeting is covered in depth in the June issue of Bulk Transporter.