Four Letter Word.. RE: Risk Reduction

[Charlie Atherton <charlie@structurex.net>]

"Risk" is a four letter word to residents of Louisiana.  
If it is a risk to you or your family, you want absolute cleanup.

If you are out of work, it is a recession to me.  
If I am out of work, it is a depression to me.

If "cleanup" is not cleaned up to a chemical action level that the real residents agree with, then it is not clean enough.

We agree with Mr. Glaab that "cleanup" must be done correctly the first time.  If not cleaned up as clean as possible the first time, by the time the second cleanup rolls around the elected officials (including the president) will have prevented or exempted the proper cleanup, through legislation.

Risk must take into account that no one knows how the cleaned up site will be impacted or used in the future.  If the cleanup is to reduce risk due to contaminated sediments, and the contaminated sediments are covered with silt to isolate the contamination, and ship traffic and maintenance dredging causes the contamination to move and to be exposed again over a long period of time, no one is going to address the second cleanup.  

Since there is no EPA rule that prohibits the formation of contaminated sediments, EPA must clean up contaminated sediments to an absolutely chemically clean level, because the contamination is going to occur again and we do not want to compound the problem.

Charlie Atherton