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Lower High Falls, Talladega Forest - Bill Wilson
Remediation and Cleanup

Superfund Sites

ADEM provides State support for EPA under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or Superfund, for responsible party remediation at sites where hazardous waste or hazardous substances were disposed of or spilled. ADEM staff are also involved in State oversight of Superfund remedial actions at Federal Facilities, including several Department of Defense sites. The oversight activities include reviewing work plans and investigation reports and decision documents to assure these activities are also in compliance with State regulations.

EPA Superfund home page

AHSCF Sites

The Alabama Hazardous Substances Cleanup Fund Act provides resources for ADEM to assess and/or conduct removal actions at sites where hazardous substances have been spilled, discarded or disposed of. The Fund receives a fee of $1 per ton for each ton of hazardous waste or hazardous substances disposed of in commercial hazardous waste disposal facilities in Alabama.

ADEM staff assess sites to determine eligibility. If there is an eminent endangerment of public health or the environment, AHSCF funds may be used to conduct remedial actions. Annual Reports to the Legislature for the previous five fiscal years are available and detail all activities conducted using AHSCF funds during each year.

AHSCF Annual Report

EPA Local Government Reimbursement Program

The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Local Government Reimbursement program (LGR) provides up to $25,000 per incident for local governments to respond to, mitigate and dispose of hazardous substances in the event there is a release or the threat of a release as a hazardous substance should the responsible party be unknown, unable or refuse to pay costs. This program is available to cities, counties, towns and Indian tribes. State agencies are not eligible to participate. Examples of some qualifying events include disposal of wastes from: clandestine drug laboratories, abandoned drum with unknown contents, CERCLA chemical release, or a bioterrorism event. Additional information, including an application package, can be found here.

ADERTF Sites

Under the Alabama Drycleaning Environmental Response Trust Fund Act, eligible drycleaning sites that may have improperly disposed of drycleaning chemicals are eligible to use Fund monies for environmental remediation. Eligibility of a site and expenditure of Fund monies must be approved by the ADERTF Board. All remedial actions conducted using ADERTF funds are done under the oversight of ADEM staff, who review assessment and cleanup plans, assessment reports and remedial action decisions.