Hazardous Substances

As an industrialized nation, the United States produces, transports, stores, uses, and disposes of millions of tons of hazardous substances per day. Many of us live and work among a wide variety of what are considered CERCLA hazardous substances, which can be found on trucks, trains, and ships that transport hazardous substances; in industrial production, storage, and use; and in active and abandoned hazardous waste sites. Hazardous substances also are found in many consumer products and services that we use everyday, including paints, batteries, dry cleaning processes, pesticides, and many others. Under normal conditions, these substances are controlled and pose no threat to human life and the environment. But when they enter the environment through an accidental release, they can contaminate the land we use, the water we drink, and the air we breathe, with potentially disastrous results.

EPA's Superfund Emergency Response program provides quick response to the release, or threatened release, of hazardous substances wherever and whenever they occur. It is one of two major components of the Superfund response program designed to protect human health and the environment from the multiple threats posed by hazardous substances. The program's top priorities are below:

• readiness to respond 24 hours-a-day to a release incident;
• response with whatever resources are required to eliminate immediate dangers to the public and the environment; and
• community relations that can be used to inform the public about a release, response activities, and the substances involved.

The program is a vital part in the nation's efforts to reduce and eliminate the threats from hazardous substances releases. EPA responses to Superfund emergencies are implemented through its 10 Superfund Regions, and are characterized by a system that includes federal, state, and local cooperation, the National Response System, and between government and industry. Due to the pervasiveness of hazardous substances in our society, however, the broad range of emergencies to which EPA must respond can never be completely eliminated. The Superfund Emergency Response program is prepared to use its response authorities to their fullest extent, today and in the future, to protect the public and the environment from immediate threats posed by hazardous substances.