Interactive Superfund Quiz: Test Your Understanding of CERCLA Cleanup Methods

📚 Quick Study Guide

• 📜 CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act): Also known as Superfund, it's a US law enacted in 1980.
• 🎯 Purpose: To clean up uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites and respond to spills that may endanger public health or the environment.
• 💰 Funding: Established a trust fund (Superfund) to finance cleanup activities, originally funded by taxes on the chemical and petroleum industries.
• 🏭 Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs): CERCLA allows the EPA to seek reimbursement from PRPs for cleanup costs.
• 🚧 Cleanup Methods: Include containment, treatment, excavation, and bioremediation, selected based on site-specific conditions and risks.
• 🧪 Risk Assessment: A crucial step in determining the extent of contamination and potential health risks.
• 📊 National Priorities List (NPL): EPA maintains the NPL, a list of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites identified for long-term cleanup.

🧪 Practice Quiz

1. What is the primary goal of CERCLA (Superfund)?
   1. A. To promote industrial development.
   2. B. To clean up hazardous waste sites.
   3. C. To regulate air pollution.
   4. D. To manage water resources.
2. Which of the following is NOT a typical method used in Superfund cleanups?
   1. A. Containment.
   2. B. Incineration.
   3. C. Phytoremediation.
   4. D. Afforestation.
3. What does PRP stand for in the context of CERCLA?
   1. A. Public Response Program.
   2. B. Potentially Responsible Party.
   3. C. Pollution Reduction Plan.
   4. D. Preventative Remediation Process.
4. What is the purpose of the National Priorities List (NPL)?
   1. A. To list all companies that produce chemicals.
   2. B. To identify sites for immediate recreational development.
   3. C. To list the most serious hazardous waste sites for long-term cleanup.
   4. D. To track the progress of pollution reduction efforts nationwide.
5. Which of the following factors is LEAST likely to influence the selection of a cleanup method at a Superfund site?
   1. A. Site-specific conditions.
   2. B. Cost of the cleanup.
   3. C. Potential health risks.
   4. D. The color of the soil.
6. What is the role of 'risk assessment' in the Superfund cleanup process?
   1. A. To determine the aesthetic value of the site.
   2. B. To assess the potential health and environmental risks posed by the contamination.
   3. C. To estimate the cost of the cleanup operation.
   4. D. To select the contractor for the cleanup.
7. Which of these is an example of in-situ treatment?
   1. A. Removing contaminated soil to a landfill.
   2. B. Treating contaminated groundwater by injecting chemicals into the ground.
   3. C. Capping the contaminated area with an impermeable barrier.
   4. D. Pumping and treating contaminated water above ground.