The Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act (SARA) requires that administrative records be compiled at Superfund sites where remedial or removal responses are planned, or are occurring, or where EPA is issuing a unilateral order or initiating litigation to track enforcement case budget funds used for any activity being led by a Responsible Party.

AEC means the Atomic Energy Commission. The AEC was replaced by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 1975, and in 1977, Congress gave responsibility for the nation's nuclear weapons complex to the Department of Energy (DOE).

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund, was enacted by Congress on December 11, 1980. This law provided broad Federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment. ... [read full definition]

Cleanup activities at a site include removals, studies, remedy selection, remedy design, remedy implementation, and post-construction activities. The completion of each activity enables the site to move further along in the cleanup process. ... [read full definition]

The United States Department of Energy

The United States Environmental Protection Agency. EPA is the federal agency charged with responsibility for overseeing the investigation, study, and cleanup of NPL (Superfund) sites.

A study of a hazardous waste site intended to: (1) evaluate alternative remedial actions from technical, environmental, and cost effectiveness perspectives; (2) recommend the cost-effective remedial action; and (3) prepare a conceptual design, a cost estimate for budgetary purposes, and a preliminary construction schedule.

The Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program is an environmental remediation program. It addresses radiological contamination generated by activities of the Manhattan Engineer District and the Atomic Energy Commission (MED/AEC) during development of the atomic weapons in the 1940s and 50s. AEC established the FUSRAP for the cleanup of sites not owned by the U.S. Department of Energy but contaminated from past activities involving radioactive materials.

The highest level of a contaminant that EPA allows in drinking water. MCLs ensure that drinking water does not pose either a short-term or long-term health risk. EPA sets MCLs at levels that are economically and technologically feasible. Some states set MCLs which are more strict than EPA's.

the Missouri Department of Natural Resources

The National Priorities List (NPL) is the list of national priorities among the known releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants throughout the United States and its territories.

During cleanup, a site can be divided into a number of distinct areas depending on the complexity of the problems associated with the site. These areas called operable units may address geographic areas of a site, specific site problems, or areas where a specific action is required. An example of a typical operable unit could include removal of drums and tanks from the surface of a site.

Areas 1 and 2 at the West Lake Landfill Site, which are the areas at the Site that contain radiologically-impacted material (RIM)”

A brown to black mineral that has a distinctive luster. It consists mainly of urananite (UO₂), but also contains radium. It is the main source of uranium ore. [see more information about Belgian Congo pitchblende]

Potenially Responsible Parties

Any man-made or natural element which emits radiation in the form of alpha or beta particles, or as gamma rays.

Radon is a gaseous radioactive element having the symbol Rn, the atomic number 86, an atomic weight of 222, a melting point of -71ºC, a boiling point of -62ºC, and (depending on the source, there are between 20 and 25 isotopes of radon - 20 cited in the chemical summary, 25 listed in the table of isotopes); it is an extremely toxic, colorless gas; it can be condensed to a transparent liquid and to an opaque, glowing solid; it is derived from the radioactive decay of radium and is used in cancer treatment, as a tracer in leak detection, and in radiography. (From the word radium, the substance from which it is derived.)

An investigation intended to gather the data necessary to: (1) determine the nature and extent of problems at the site; ( 2) establish cleanup criteria for the site; (3) identify preliminary alternative remedial actions; and (4) support the technical and cost analyses of the alternatives.

Radiologically-contaminated material

A public document that explains which cleanup alternative(s) will be used at National Priorities List sites.

SLAPS is the St. Louis Airport Sites located in North St. Louis County, and includes the airport and Latty Avenue.

A number of studies are undertaken at a site to determine site conditions, the nature and extent of contamination, the criteria that will be required to clean up the site, preliminary alternatives for cleanup actions, and technical and cost analyses of the alternatives. The two most common studies are called the Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study.

The remedy selected at a site is the method that EPA has determined will best address, correct, or remediate the contamination concerns at the site. The remedy selected at a site is... [read full definition]

Superfund is the name given to the environmental program established to address abandoned hazardous waste sites. It is also the name of the fund established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended. This law was enacted in the wake of the discovery of toxic waste dumps such as Love Canal and Times Beach in the 1970s. It allows the EPA to clean up such sites and to compel responsible parties to perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-lead cleanups. ... [read full definition]