HOUSINGNEWS REPORT
FEATURED ARTICLE
were largely ignored. The result was that many industrial and military sites were polluted without much public concern. All of this began to change about 50 years ago. The first Earth Day was in 1970, and by 1980 the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, Superfund law, this legislation provided standards for the “liability, compensation, cleanup, and emergency response for hazardous substances released into the environment and the cleanup of inactive hazardous waste disposal sites.” and Liability Act — CERCLA — was passed. Commonly known as the
“known releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants.” Once identified, sites are then added to the National Priorities List (NPL). The catch is that not all NPL sites are equally polluted. The EPA uses a Hazard Ranking System (HRS) and gives priority to the sites which represent the most risk, but only after the public — including owners — comment about proposed inclusions for the NPL list. With the Superfund law in place, the game suddenly changed. No longer was pollution an incidental cost or no cost at all. Polluters could face huge, bankrupting, fines. Inadequate state
laws designed to shield polluters were dead. Environmental concerns instantly became a national value on the order of mother, apple pie and the American flag. Protecting the air, water, and ground was now a corporate priority. The changes brought on by CERCLA are not just a matter of optics. Big money is involved. Companies can get paid to clean up the hazards and debris left by others. Lawyers can file class- action lawsuits against polluters. The government itself is now on the hook for billions in clean-up costs.
Buried in the Superfund rules are several curious realities.
Under the new system, criteria were established to identify properties with
2016 Home Seller Price Gains by Superfund Risk Avg Price Gain Since Last Purchase Avg Pct Gain Since Last Purchase
30%
24.4%
$70,000
24.2%
23.0%
21.3%
$60,000
25%
19.6%
$66,076
$65,120
$50,000
20%
$51,307
$56,121
$40,000
$43,103
15%
$30,000
10%
$20,000
5%
$10,000
0%
$0
Very Low
Moderate
High
Very High
All Properties
ATTOM Data Solutions • P4
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