Utah is located within U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8, which covers the Mountains and Plains states. The regional office is in Denver, Colorado. EPA works primarily in conjunction with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ) to regulate environmental issues in the state. UDEQ is split into six different divisions. These divisions are in place to monitor air quality and water quality, to provide residents with safe drinking water, to remediate polluted land, to control the disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste, and to control the levels of radiation in Utah. The Division of Environmental Response and Remediation, in particular, attempts to address the problems associated with abandoned hazardous waste sites through the Superfund and other related programs. The efforts seek to prevent the contamination of groundwater, and in some cases, to reclaim the value of these abandoned sites and make them available for economic activity.
Due to its unique geographic makeup, Utah, located in the intersection of three distinct…show more content… With the threat of being listed as a Superfund site, the city of Murray proposed to become the lead agency in cleanup to EPA, with the intention of promoting future development and avoiding an official National Priorities Listing (NPL) in association with Superfund. American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO), the principal responsible party, operated the largest smelter and was willing to assist the city in the cleanup of the site. ASARCO also offered money for the remediation process. Since EPA had a poor reputation for its cleanup of nearby sites and UDEQ was overwhelmed with other work, it made sense for Murray to be placed in charge of its own cleanup. Under this proposed hierarchy, EPA and UDEQ would offer scientific and technical support. Furthermore, EPA could not enforce its power as
