Formatted Title:

Navigating Technical Challenges Encountered in Late Stages of the Remedial Cost Allocation Process

Background/Objectives:

Superfund sediment sites are taking decades to study, allocate, and remediate as a result of various technical, administrative, legal and financial challenges being encountered. Sediment sites are increasing in size, selected remedies are becoming more complex, there are more non-technical features (such as environmental justice) included as part of (or in alignment with) the CERCLA process, and there can be hundreds of involved parties, thus taking more time to reach design agreement and construct. For urban waterways especially, sediment transport mechanisms, remedial action sequencing, source control and recontamination risks necessitate even higher levels of investigation and consideration thus prolonging the remediation process. Further, while these sites may have a smaller group of performing or work parties, the cost of the remediation may be shared by a very large number of potentially responsible parties (PRPs) and sharing of costs is typically negotiated through an allocation process. Reaching an agreement between all PRPs on cost sharing takes several years and is usually (but not always) completed prior to remediation implementation and/or completion. These compounding delays in remediation design and the allocation process also invite an increase in public awareness of the project status, the driving human health risks, ecological risks, and future construction impacts. Addressing community concerns requires careful stakeholder engagement, which can cause even further delays in remedy implementation. This magnifying lens places an increased pressure from the public on various stakeholders, including (but not limited to) regulators and performing parties, to address these concerns and often results in diverging priorities, presenting yet another barrier to progress. The objective of this presentation is to present potential solutions for streamlining the concluding stages of the remedial cost allocation process and reducing the number of unknowns for participating parties approaching mediation.

Approach/Activities:

We will identify and discuss specific technical challenges that we have observed as practitioners which inhibit progress at Superfund sediment sites (including sites currently experiencing these challenges), and then share possible solutions, and examples of other sites where some of these issues were more successfully navigated. Concepts to be discussed include the disconnect between remedial costs and allocation percentages, and understanding limitations of feasibility study-level cost estimates; technical aspects of site investigation that require early agreement amongst PRPs; consideration of common or shared resources for investigation, remediation and implementation phases of cleanup; consideration of submerged land ownership and future use; early financial management considerations and better definition of risks driving cash out premiums; and ideas for productive management regulatory concerns and remedy design and implementation.

Results/Lessons Learned:

Through discussion of past successes and forward-looking innovative strategies, we will demonstrate that there are potential technical solutions and approaches that can reduce the risks to successful conclusion of the cost allocation process posed by the technical challenges listed above. A key takeaway in our review of professional experience is that raising these potential challenges much earlier in the allocation process would very likely reduce confusion, friction, and therefore reduce time delays later on.

Erin O''Connell

Affiliation

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Navigating Technical Challenges Encountered in Late Stages of the Remedial Cost Allocation Process