Alaska

 Community  Action  on  Toxics  (ACAT)  

Barron  Park  Association  Foundation  
The  Breast  Cancer  Fund  
BVOCAL  (Behr  VOC  Area  Leaders)  
Center  for  Health,  Environment  &  Justice  (CHEJ)  
Center  for  Public  Environmental  Oversight  
Citizens'  Environmental  Coalition  
Citizens  For  A  Clean  Pompton  Lakes  
Citizens  for  Safe  Water  Around  Badger  (CSWAB)  
Citizens  for  Sanity.Com,  Inc.  
Clean  Water  for  North  Carolina  
Cleanuprocketdyne.org  
Community  Builders  Corporation  
Concerned  Citizens  of  Lake  Twp./Uniontown  IEL  
Concerned  Citizens  of  the  Plainview-­‐Old  Bethpage  Community  Inc.  
CTS  Citizens  Monitoring  Council  
Don't  Waste  Arizona  
Edison  Wetlands  Association  
Empire  State  Consumer  Project  
Environmental  Awareness  Foundation  
Environmental  Health  Group  
French  Broad  Riverkeeper  
Global  Community  Monitor  
Global  Indoor  Health  Network,  Inc.  
Glynn  Environmental  Coalition  
Green  Spaces  NY  
Group  for  the  East  End  
HabitatMap  
Healthy  Child  Healthy  World  
Hopewell  Junction  Citizens  for  Clean  Water  
Hudson  River  Sloop  Clearwater,  Inc.  
Incinerator  Free  Brown  County  
Inter  PAC  Environmental  Justice  Committee  
Lindon  Park  Neighborhood  Association  
Mills  Gap  Road  Ground  Water  Contamination  Site  CAG  
New  Bedford  Environmental  Justice  Network  
New  Green  Media  
Newtown  Creek  Alliance  
New  York  Committee  for  Occupational  Safety  &  Health  (NYCOSH)  
New  York  Public  Interest  Research  Group  (NYPIRG)  
NJ  Environmental  Federation  
New  Jersey  Friends  of  Clearwater,  Inc.  
New  York  Vapor  Intrusion  Alliance  (NYVIA)  
Old  Bedford  Village  Development,  Inc.  

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 Person  County  People  Rising  in  Defense  of  Ecology  
Physicians  for  Social  Responsibility  -­‐  Los  Angeles  (PSR-­‐LA)  
Voluntary  Clean-­‐Up  Advisory  Board  
Western  North  Carolina  Alliance  
Wild  New  Jersey  
 
U.S.  Environmental  Protection  Agency  
EPA  Docket  Center  
Superfund  Docket,    
Mail  Code  28221T  
1200  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  NW.  
Washington,  DC  20460                   April  15,  2011  
 
Re:  Docket  ID  No.  EPA–HQ–  SFUND–2010–1086  
 
Dear  US  EPA:  
 
We  are  writing  to  fully  support  EPA’s  proposal  to  update  the  Hazard  Ranking  System  (HRS)  to  
include  the  vapor  intrusion  pathway,  so  that  sites  with  significant  documented  or  potential  
vapor  intrusion  can  be  placed  on  the  “Superfund”  National  Priorities  List  (NPL).  This  action  is  
long  overdue,  because  an  uncounted  number  of  Americans  are  exposed  to  toxic  volatile  
substances  in  our  homes,  schools,  and  workplaces.  
 
Many  of  us  live,  work,  or  have  children  that  attend  schools  near  legacy  industrial  sites,  military  
sites,  gas  stations,  dry  cleaning  facilities,  and  other  sources  of  hazardous  vapors.      
 
We  believe  that  dangerous,  complex,  and/or  large  vapor  intrusion  sites  may  need  to  be  
addressed  under  Superfund  because  many  states  lack  the  capability  to  adequately  evaluate  the  
pathway.  In  addition,  EPA-­‐led  sites  that  are  addressed  under  other  programs,  such  as  
Emergency  Response,  sometimes  use  unprotective  exposure  standards.  At  many  sites  where  
vapor  intrusion  is  being  mitigated  there  is  no  long-­‐term  strategy  for  eliminating  the  source.  
Listing  would  require  that  remediation  alternatives  be  evaluated.  
 
It  should  be  simple  for  significant  sites  with  completed  vapor  intrusion  to  qualify  for  Listing,  but  
the  HRS  should  also  recognize  sites  with  potential  vapor  intrusion:  
 
1.   Most  potential  vapor  intrusion  sites  have  not  experienced  soil  gas  or  indoor  air  sampling.  
Significant  levels  of  volatile  substances,  particularly  chlorinated  volatile  organic  compounds  
(CVOCs),  in  shallow  groundwater  should  be  enough  to  place  these  sites  on  the  NPL.  This  
should  apply  to  undeveloped  property  where  occupied  structures  are  a  reasonably  
anticipated  future  land  use.  
 
2.   Many  occupied  buildings  with  elevated  levels  of  CVOCs  in  underlying  soil  gas  do  not  
manifest  elevated  concentrations  indoors  because  the  slab  or  floor  is  currently  impermeable  
or  ventilation  rates  are  high.  These  temporary  conditions  should  not  be  considered  
protective,  and  listing  should  be  considered.  
 

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3.   At  a  growing  number  of  sites,  overseen  by  EPA  or  other  regulators,  as  well  as  those  where  
the  environmental  response  is  conducted  by  volunteers,  mitigation  such  as  subslab  
depressurization  has  been  installed.  Such  mitigation  is  necessary,  but  these  are  interim  
measures.  Short  term  reductions  in  indoor  air  contamination  should  not  prevent  a  site  from  
NPL  Listing.  
 
We  recognize  that  not  every  site  with  confirmed  or  potential  vapor  intrusion  will  qualify  for  the  
NPL—the  nation’s  worst.  We  also  understand  that  once  sites  are  listed  that  remedies  will  be  
selected  according  to  the  nine  criteria  of  the  National  Contingency  Plan.  Nevertheless,  we  
strongly  believe  that  adding  the  vapor  intrusion  pathway  as  a  factor  in  NPL  Listing  will  provide  
EPA  with  an  important  tool  to  protect  Americans  further  from  continuing  exposure  to  highly  
toxic  volatiles  substances.  
 
In  summary,  we  strongly  support  EPA’s  proposal  to  add  the  vapor  intrusion  pathway  as  a  
component  of  the  Hazard  Ranking  System  for  listing  properties  on  the  “Superfund”  National  
Priorities  List.  
 
We  thank  you  for  the  opportunity  to  comment  on  this  important  matter.  
 
Sincerely,  
 
Pamela  K.  Miller,  Executive  Director   Nancy  Swan  
Alaska  Community  Action  on  Toxics  (ACAT)   Children's  Environmental  Protection  
Anchorage,  AK   Alliance  
   
Bob  Moss   Barbara  J.  Warren,  Executive  Director  
Barron  Park  Association  Foundation   Citizens'  Environmental  Coalition  
Palo  Alto,  CA   Albany,  NY      
   
Jeanne  Rizzo,  R.N.  President  and  CEO   Lisa  Riggiola  ,  Executive  Director    
The  Breast  Cancer  Fund   Citizens  For  A  Clean  Pompton  Lakes    
San  Francisco,  CA   Pompton  Lakes,  NJ  
   
Jerry  Bowling  III   Laura  Olah,  Executive  Director  
BVOCAL  (Behr  VOC  Area  Leaders)   Citizens  for  Safe  Water  Around  Badger  
Dayton,  OH   (CSWAB)  
  Merrimac,  WI  
Lois  Marie  Gibbs,  Executive  Director    
Center  for  Health,  Environment  &  Justice   Clay  G.  Colson,  Board  Director  and  Water  
(CHEJ)   Issues  Chair  
Falls  Church,  VA   Citizens  for  Sanity.Com,  Inc.  
  Pasco,  FL  
Lenny  Siegel,  Executive  Director    
Center  for  Public  Environmental  Oversight   Katie  Hicks  
Mountain  View,  CA   Clean  Water  for  North  Carolina  
  Asheville,  NC  
   
 

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Christina  Walsh   Hartwell  Carson  
Cleanuprocketdyne.org   French  Broad  Riverkeeper  
West  Hills,  CA   Western  North  Carolina  Alliance  
  Asheville,  NC  
Duane  De  Witt,  Executive  Director    
Community  Builders  Corporation   Denny  Larson,  Executive  Director  
Santa  Rosa,  CA   Global  Community  Monitor  
  El  Cerrito,  CA  
Sarah  Anker,  Suffolk  County  Legislator    
Community  Health  and  the  Environment   Cheryl  Wisecup,  President  
Mt.  Sinai,  NY   Global  Indoor  Health  Network,  Inc.  
  Henderson,  Nevada  
Chris  Borello,  President    
Concerned  Citizens  of  Lake   Daniel  Parshley,  Project  Manager  
Twp./Uniontown  IEL     Glynn  Environmental  Coalition  
Uniontown,  OH   Brunswick,  GA  
   
Carol  Meschkow,  President   Eva  Navon,  Community  Manager  
Concerned  Citizens  of  the  Plainview-­‐Old   Green  Spaces  NY    
Bethpage  Community  Inc.   New  York,  NY  
Plainview,  NY    
  Robert  S.  DeLuca,  President  
Dave  Ogren,  Buncombe  County   Group  for  the  East  End  
Commissioner  Appointed         Southold,  NY  
CTS  Citizens  Monitoring  Council    
Asheville,  NC     Michael  Heimbinder,  Executive  Director  
  HabitatMap  
Stephen  Brittle,  President   Brooklyn,  NY  
Don't  Waste  Arizona    
Phoenix,  AZ   Rachel  Lincoln  Sarnoff,  Interim  Executive  
  Director/CEO  
Robert  Spiegel,  Executive  Director   Healthy  Child  Healthy  World  
Edison  Wetlands  Association   Los  Angeles,  CA  
Edison,  NJ    
  Debra  Hall,  Co-­‐Chair  
Judy  Braiman   Hopewell  Junction  Citizens  for  Clean  Water  
Empire  State  Consumer  Project   NYVIA  New  York  Vapor  Intrusion  Alliance  
Rochester,  NY   Hopewell  Junction  NY  
   
Bill  Burns   Ed  Dlugosz  
Environmental  Awareness  Foundation   Hudson  River  Sloop  Clearwater,  Inc.  
Atlanta,  GA   New  Jersey  Friends  of  Clearwater,  Inc.  
  Red  Bank,  NJ  
Kent  Slowinski,  Co-­‐Founder    
Environmental  Health  Group   John  Filcher  
Washington,  DC   Incinerator  Free  Brown  County  
  Green  Bay,  WI  
 

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Marion  J.  Lamberth,  Outreach  Chair   Laura  Haight,  Senior  Environmental  
Inter  PAC  Environmental  Justice   Associate  
Committee   New  York  Public  Interest  Research  Group  
Durham,  N.C.     (NYPIRG)  
  Albany,  NY  
Mary  Moore    
Lindon  Park  Neighborhood  Association   Dana  Patterson,  Manger  
Phoenix,  AZ   New  Green  Media  
  Edison,  NJ  
Donna  A.  Lupardo    
Member,  NYS  Assembly   Amy  Goldsmith,  State  Director  
Binghamton,  NY   NJ  Environmental  Federation.    
  Belmar,  NJ    
Glen  Horecky,  Chair    
Mills  Gap  Road  Ground  Water   John  G.  Andrade  Executive  Director  
Contamination  Site  CAG   Old  Bedford  Village  Development,  Inc.  
Asheville,  NC   New  Bedford,  MA  
   
Kathleen  Schmid,  Executive  Director   Pat  Hill,  Co-­‐Chair  
Newtown  Creek  Alliance   Person  County  People  Rising  in  Defense  of  
Brooklyn  and  Queens,  NY   Ecology    
  Roxboro,  NC  
Karen  A.  Vilandry      
New  Bedford  Environmental  Justice   Martha  Dina  Argüello,  Executive  Director  
Network     Physicians  for  Social  Responsibility  -­‐  Los  
New  Bedford,  MA   Angeles  (PSR-­‐LA)  
  Los  Angeles,  CA  
Joel  Shufro,  Executive  Director    
New  York  Committee  for  Occupational   Tim  Lopez,  President  
Safety  and  Health  (NYCOSH)   Voluntary  Clean-­‐Up  Advisory  Board  
NeNew  York,  NY   Denver,  CO  
   
  David  Wheeler,  Founder  
  Wild  New  Jersey  
Edison,  NJ  
 
 
CC:     EPA  Administrator  Lisa  Jackson  
  EPA  Assistant  Administrator  Mathy  Stanislaus,  OSWER