![[logo] US EPA](../gif/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Assessing Contaminated Sites and Properties
Site assessment is EPA's means of evaluating a hazardous waste site's level of contamination and potential for cleanup. The first stage of a site assessment, often termed the preliminary assessment, is designed to distinguish between sites and properties that pose little or no threat to human health and the environment and sites that may pose a threat and require further investigation.
The following links provides you with resources and information associated with the assessment of various types of contaminated sites.
- Brownfield
Sites
Brownfields site assessments are conducted to facilitate the reuse of properties by determining whether contamination exists onsite, the characteristics of contamination, potential solutions for cleanup, and the cost of solutions necessary to prepare the site for redevelopment. - Federal
Facility Sites (53 pp, 2.79 M, about
PDF)
This Federal Facilities Remedial Site Inspection Summary Guide highlights certain data and reporting parameters for conducting a SI at Federal facilities. For additional information on site assessment at Federal Facility sites, click here. - RCRA Sites
The RCRA Corrective Action Program, run by EPA and 41 authorized states and territories, requires responsible parties to address the investigation and cleanup of hazardous releases from sites that have viable operators and on-going operations. - Superfund
Sites
Site inspections are used by EPA to evaluate the potential for a release of hazardous substances from a Superfund site. - Underground Storage
Tank Sites
Site characterization (also referred to as site assessment) can help in understanding what has happened at an UST site, answering questions such as as how far has the release traveled? and what is the hydrogeology of the site?