At a two-day conference in Chicago titled “Getting to ‘Yes’ and Beyond,” EPA Region 5 addressed the past and future directions it will take with the RCRA Corrective Action Program. Experts discussed Brownfield remediation in a panel forum with perspectives from both EPA and industry experts. So where does the program stand?

Tom Skinner, Federal Regional Administrator of Region 5, opened the conference to discussions from groundwater contamination to brownfield remediation. John Quarles, Esq. Counsel, RCRA Corrective Action Project, described three reasons for the past shortcomings of the program: It has been seen as a low priority in regards to staff and funds, the administrative process is propondrous, and there has been a general failure to focus on practical goals.

The issue of liability interfering with potential cleanup was widely discussed, with many in agreement that President Bush’s latest brownfields legislation would lead to the fruition of substantially more cleanup projects. Successful stories of past brownfields cleanups were used as an example of what Region 5 would like to see widespread in the future.