3 10 26 https://steppingintothemap.com/inequalities/files/original/561f6fd58f1c329fe5c1b0cda173ae37.pdf 7c879dce254f35aa936988e9d88c273f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Superfund in Omaha Description An account of the resource A collection of historical documents illuminating the history and effectiveness of the Superfund Program in the Omaha Lead Site Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Legal Document Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource United States of America and State of Nebraska v. Union Pacific Railroad Company and Union Pacific Corporation: Consent Decree Subject The topic of the resource Payment for Damages of Omaha Lead Site Description An account of the resource This document force Union Pacific, another potentially responsible party, to pay for and perform some remedial work towards the remediation of the Omaha Lead Site. The document requires Union Pacific to pay $3.15 million for work related to health education and community involvement about lead and its health risks. This work would be performed by the Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance and was the origin of the organization and its work in Omaha. The work was to be implemented over the course of five years until the Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance had used all $3.15 million for community involvement and health education. This shows some attempt by the EPA to hold a party responsible for their pollution by directly reaching out into the community to help prevent harm from lead through education. This is different from the settlement with ASARCO in that it includes these specific provisions. In addition to performing this outreach work, Union Pacific was also required to pay $9,500,000 to pay for the cost of past responses taken on by the EPA, as well as an additional $400,000 to the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. They were also required to pay $11,850,000 for funding for other programs including stabilization of lead-based paint, the City of Omaha’s Lead Hazard Registry, child blood-lead screening in Douglas County Health Department’s Lead Poising Prevention Program, and response to interior lead-contaminated dust. Additionally, $100,000 to the Department of Interior for natural resource damage. The EPA holding Union Pacific responsible in this way was certainly significant for a number of reasons. First, by funding Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance and Douglas County’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, some of the damages paid by Union Pacific went directly to assisting in preventing future impacts on the lives of Omaha residents, especially children. Additionally, Union Pacific’s payments also went to help further defray the costs of previous clean up work. However, this document is missing an assessment of how much money the United States Government was owed by Union Pacific, as was present in the settlement with ASARCO. As such, it is challenging to say to what extent the EPA actually accomplished the goal of “making responsible parties pay” in the case of Union Pacific. It should not be denied that the Consent Decree with Union Pacific did a good deal to make the company pay for the part they played in polluting the Omaha Lead Site. However, without knowing an exact quantification of the harm done by Union Pacific, it cannot be said with certainty the extent to which the EPA was effective in accomplishing their goals. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The United States District Court for the District of Nebraska Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived epa.gov Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Environmental Protection Agency Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 1, 2011 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Legal Document Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Civil Action No. 8:11CV195 EPA Legal Union Pacific Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Superfund in Omaha Description An account of the resource A collection of historical documents illuminating the history and effectiveness of the Superfund Program in the Omaha Lead Site Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource US Pays Asarco $15M To End Nebraska Superfund Cleanup Dispute Subject The topic of the resource US and ASARCO dispute settlement Description An account of the resource In December of 2012, the US Federal Government and ASARCO reached a settlement in which the US agreed to pay ASARCO $15 million to end a long-lasting dispute about ASARCO’s true liability for the contamination of the Omaha Lead Site. This dispute was marked by ASARCO’s allegations that the United States EPA concealed and destroyed documents that investigated the contributions of guilty parties charged with the contamination of the Omaha Lead Site. In ASARCO’s previous 2009 bankruptcy proceedings, the two parties had agreed on a $219.5 million settlement for the toxic contamination of Omaha soil. ASARCO however, later contended that this settlement exceeded the company’s true liability at the site and demanded a refund of its overpayment to the EPA. This demand was based on the claim that the Superfund site experienced lead contamination primarily because of lead-based paint from the surrounding housing stock, rather than the lead smelter that ASARCO had operated nearby. ASARCO claimed that the lead smelter “had been closed and fully remediated in an award-winning environmental cleanup”. It followed then, that the US Department of Housing and Urban Development was responsible for the lead contamination. If this claim held, then ASARCO’s legal and monetary liability to the Superfund site would be greatly diminished, and the EPA would be forced to return significant funds to ASARCO. In the instigation of this dispute, ASARCO quoted emails in which the EPA project manager for the Omaha Lead Site “allegedly instructed his workers to delete emails related to the source of contamination at the site because they would likely be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and discovery requests later”. The federal government disputed all allegations regarding fraud, overpayment of liabilities, misrepresentations, and improper nondisclosure by ASARCO. The federal government held that the original Omaha Lead Site Settlement was fair and accurately based, so as to rightly represent the level of contamination by ASARCO’s lead smelter. It was further contended that ASARCO’s lawsuit was untimely and “without factual or legal basis and contrary to the Omaha Lead Site settlement, and that [ASARCO] lacks standing”. With the 2012 $15 million settlement, ASARCO and the federal government agreed to resolve all disputes related to the Omaha Lead Site. This $15 million settlement reduced the remediation funds that the EPA received for addressing the Omaha Lead Site to $204.5 million total. This artifact is relevant to the EPA’s level of success, or rather, struggle for success in the adequate charging of guilty parties for Omaha’s lead contamination. This legal dispute is testament to the challenges of navigating the retribution of companies and corporations involved in environmental degradation, to whatever degree. Regardless of the contribution of residential lead-paint contamination to the overall severity of what became the Omaha Superfund Site, the presence of ASARCO and the detrimental effects of industrial lead exposure are undeniable. This summary of the US and ASARCO dispute demonstrates the principal challenge the EPA faced in the naming of guilty parties and the subsequent challenge of charging for liabilities. While determination of liability presents several arbitrary decisions to be made and several holes to find in such decisions, fulfillment of the EPA’s goal to make responsible parties pay for clean-up was complicated by legal disputes like this. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Juan Carlos Rodriguez Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Law 360 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Portfolio Media, Inc. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 12, 2012 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All Content © 2003-2019, Relation A related resource The case is In re: Asarco LLC, case number 2:05-bk-21207, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource .pdf Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Legal news article Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context US Pays Asarco $15M To End Nebraska Superfund Cleanup Dispute ASARCO EPA Settlement https://steppingintothemap.com/inequalities/files/original/871dda20f873ef7d16a314a573b6dafc.pdf bd5ea9d8b0b0636d2c168a1ef28e7583 https://steppingintothemap.com/inequalities/files/original/60d2cecb06f0deb65a7c6a14a684f9be.pdf bd5ea9d8b0b0636d2c168a1ef28e7583 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Superfund in Omaha Description An account of the resource A collection of historical documents illuminating the history and effectiveness of the Superfund Program in the Omaha Lead Site Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data PDF Document Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Final Record of Decision: Decision Summary, Omaha Lead Site Subject The topic of the resource Omaha Lead Site Remediation Plan Description An account of the resource This document gives an overview of the situation at the Omaha Lead Site as it was seen by the EPA. One important part of this document is its Site history section. This section pinpoints the ASARCO facility located at 500 Douglas Street from the early 1870s-1997 as a major source of lead contamination in the Omaha Lead Site. It also specifically notes that the Aaron Ferer lead smelter and lead battery recycling, later operated by Gould, was also a major source of lead pollution. Both of these facilities emitted lead particulates into the atmosphere, which was then deposited on the ground in the surrounding area. Based on this evidence of pollution by these facilities, the EPA tried to take various enforcement actions to hold the companies in compliance with CERCLA regulations. In response to the high levels of lead found in the blood of children living in the area, the EPA asked ASARCO to perform soil removal at child-care centers and residencies in the contaminated area, but ASARCO refused, even after an Administrative Order was issued. After this refusal, the EPA took action on its own, but continued to try to hold ASARCO responsible for their actions, as well as three other potentially responsible parties: Union Pacific, Gould, and Aaron Ferer. In most cases, these parties refused to cooperate with the EPA, including on the performance of an RI/FS, requests for payments for costs and performance of work. When these parties refused to cooperate, the EPA issued further Administrative Orders in an attempt to hold the parties responsible. However, the parties continued to refuse to comply, forcing the EPA to procede with the remediation of the Omaha Lead Sight using money from Superfund, rather than from the responsible parties. This document is significant for multiple reasons. First of all, it gives specific evidence and justification about why the EPA chose the potentially responsible parties that they did, as gives a better idea about what actions they pursued against the parties early on in the remediation of the Omaha Lead Site. Additionally, this documents the potentially responsible parties active strategies to attempt to escape responsibility for the pollution they put into the environment. This establishes the justification for the legal action the EPA took against these companies later on, and is significant in understanding the overall effort that was put in by the EPA took make the responsible parties pay for the remediation of the pollution they placed into the environment. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region VII Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived EPA.gov Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available US Environmental Protection Agency Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 2009 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Document Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource US EPA Archive Document Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context FINAL RECORD OF DECISION DECISION SUMMARY OMAHA LEAD SITE OPERABLE UNIT NUMBER 2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Superfund in Omaha Description An account of the resource A collection of historical documents illuminating the history and effectiveness of the Superfund Program in the Omaha Lead Site Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Article Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Asarco sale raises suspicions: The government sees a plot to skip out on site cleanups; the company says it is restructuring to remain in business. Subject The topic of the resource ASARCO sale of assets Description An account of the resource This article details a dispute over ASARCO’s attempt to sell its 54% stake in the Southern Peru Copper Corporation, which was ASARCO’s most valuable asset at the time. ASARCO was attempting to sell this stake to another subsidiary of ASARCO’s parent company, Groupo Mexico. This attempted sale raised concerns amongst members of government agencies such as the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency, as there was concern that ASARCO was not selling the shares for market value. Selling these shares would have brought ASARCO every closer to bankruptcy, as the profits from the copper mining were a large and reliable revenue stream for the company. Many suspected that this sale was intended to push ASARCO further towards bankruptcy as an attempt by the company to escape their debts and liabilities to clean up sites they contaminated all over the country. On the other hand, ASARCO claimed that the sale was simply an attempt by the company to restructure the company and to pay off a lone that would come due shortly after the proposed sale. The federal government decided to block the sale in order to prevent ASARCO from potentially using to attempt to escape their liabilities. The action taken by the government was very significant for Omaha, as allowing the company to go bankrupt could have acted as a barrier to the proper remediation of the Omaha Lead Site. The article estimates that ASARCO would be responsible for 2/3-3/4 of the costs of remediating the site, which the article estimates at $134 million. Further still, this action was significant in preventing the costs remediating the site from being passed on to tax payers, helping to prevent tax payer subsidization of environmental injustice. This article exemplifies tactics that ASARCO could use in an attempt to evade their liability under CERCLA, and also demonstrates a forceful response by the government to prevent the use of these tactics. When taken in conjunction with the eventual settlement reached between ASARCO and the federal government, this article provides some evidence to say that the EPA put at least some amount of concerted effort into forcing ASARCO, the party most responsible for the contamination at the Omaha Lead Site, to pay for the remediation of the environmental hazard they created. Overall, this can be seen as an attempt by the federal government to enforce the need for environmental justice in in the Omaha Lead Site, although the extent to which this was accomplish may not be to the standard state in CERCLA. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Nancy Gaarder Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Omaha World-Herald Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource August 26, 2002 Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Asarco sale raises suspicions: The government sees a plot to skip out on site cleanups; the company says it is restructuring to remain in business. ASARCO EPA Grupo Mexico Superfund https://steppingintothemap.com/inequalities/files/original/f665b5623659f7830d6354b10c1e1810.pdf 5eceff9db1cf8b4f784f09b24ab73bef Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Superfund in Omaha Description An account of the resource A collection of historical documents illuminating the history and effectiveness of the Superfund Program in the Omaha Lead Site Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Legislation Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource CERCLA Section 107: Liability Subject The topic of the resource Liability for pollution under CERCLA Description An account of the resource The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 established what is generally referred to as Superfund. This government program is intended to help in the remediation of sites around the country polluted with toxic materials. However, one particularly important section of this legislation is Section 107, which addresses liability for pollution remediated by the Superfund program. Section 107 assigns this liability to the owners and operators of polluting facilities, any person who owned or opportune a facility at which hazardous substances were disposed of, and person contracted to dispose of, treat, or transport hazardous waste, or who accepts any hazardous substance for transport to a treatment facility from which there is a release of toxic substances. The legislation outlines that these parties shall be responsible for the costs of remediation incurred by the Federal government or a state, any costs of response incurred by a person consistent with the national contingency plan, and damages for injury, destruction of, or loss of natural resources. Subsection (c)(1) provides limits to liability, which it sets at $300 per gross ton for vessels carrying hazardous cargo, through there are differing caps depending on the type of vessel. It also sets a cap at $50,000,000 for releases from motor vehicles, aircraft, and pipelines, which a floor at $5,000,000. Additionally, for any other facility, the law states that “the total of all costs of response plus $50,000,000 for any damages under this title” should be paid. Subsection (2) also notes that within the limitations defined in subsection (c)(1) a responsible party would be liable for full cost of response and damages if the release of hazardous substances was due to “willful misconduct or willful negligence,” or if the release was due to violation of safety standards or regulations. Understanding the provisions outlined by the section of CERCLA is very significant for understanding the story of lead in Omaha. By understanding what responsibility is outlined by this legislation, it becomes possible to know if the responsible parties, namely ASARCO, Gould Electronics, Union Pacific, and others, paid an amount sufficient based on the amounts outlined by CERCLA. This is also important in how successful the EPA has been in fulfilling their outlined goal of holding polluting parties responsible. Based on the amount payed to the EPA in settlements by these companies, the extent to which the EPA held them responsible compared to the amount they are legally directed to be held responsible for can be compared. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource James Florio Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available U.S. Government Publishing Office Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 11, 1980 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF document Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Legislation Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 94 Stat. 2767 EPA Government Lead Legislation Superfund https://steppingintothemap.com/inequalities/files/original/e0fa3fbd944d6473409dd79be04a113c.png e23976c0de781f5eb12c8e1bbf9385d5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Superfund in Omaha Description An account of the resource A collection of historical documents illuminating the history and effectiveness of the Superfund Program in the Omaha Lead Site Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image Original file ‎(1,516 × 2,218 pixels, file size: 1.51 MB, MIME type: image/png) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Omaha Lead Site-map-EPA 2009 Subject The topic of the resource Maps Lead EPA Omaha ASARCO Council Bluffs Description An account of the resource Map of Omaha Lead Superfund Site, Omaha, Nebraska. Asarco and other companies had contaminated the site. The map shows average lead concentrations based on soil measurements. EPA was scheduled to complete soil cleanup in over 12,500 Omaha residential yards by December 2015. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Kansas City, KS. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Omaha Lead Site, Operable Unit 02. Final Record of Decision." Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available EPA Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 13 May 2009 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Emily Burke & Sean Downey Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Original file ‎(1,516 × 2,218 pixels, file size: 1.51 MB, MIME type: image/png) Type The nature or genre of the resource Map Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Document ID 30022233. Figure 1, p. 164. EPA Lead Map Omaha Superfund