Making Progress Cleaning Up Contaminated Properties

The Massachusetts Contingency Plan was significantly revised effective October 1, 1993 when a new, privatized approach was adopted. Since then, DEP has worked with private-sector Licensed Site Professionals (LSPs) to assess and cleanup sites. This page asks and answers questions about the progress of cleanups since 1993.

This information is current through Fiscal Year 2024.

Notifications - Summary

57,404  Releases Reported since 1984

• How many releases have been reported to DEP?
  Since 1984, more than 57,000 releases have been reported to the Department.
   
• What accounts for the most notifications: sudden releases (spills) or historic contamination?
  Two-hour notifications, primarily related to new spills, account for 57 percent of all the notifications received since 2011. The balance of notifications is split between: 120-Day notifications, generally associated with finding historic contamination at concentrations above Reportable Concentrations; and 72-Hour notifications, which include (among other conditions) leaking tanks, groundwater contamination near a public well or near/at a private well, and actual/potential impacts to indoor air.
   
• Are the numbers of spills increasing each year?
  No. There has been an overall decline of all three types of notifications (2-Hour, 72-Hour and 120-Day) over time.  This trend is consistent with better environmental management practices, upgrades in underground storage tanks, and a diminishing universe of undiscovered "historic" contamination. The notable increase in 72-Hour notifications in 1999 is attributable to the discovery of contamination related to leaking underground storage tanks driven by the federal deadline for the upgrade or replacement of underground storage tanks. 

Cleanup & Closures - Summary

43,348  Sites Closed Since 1993

• How many sites have been cleaned up since 1993?
  43,348 sites, averaging over 1400 per year. 
   
• How many sites have been cleaned for unrestricted use?
  A Permanent Solution with No Conditions has been achieved at 38,559 sites (or more than 89%), indicating that the site is suitable for unrestricted use. (This includes sites that have achieved Class A-1, A-2, and B-1 Response Action Outcomes – the closure categories that were in place prior to the 2014 regulatory changes.)
   
• How many sites have achieved temporary solutions?
  A Temporary Solution has been achieved at 1,015 (2%) of the sites cleaned up to date. (Temporary Solutions were referred to Class C RAOs prior to Spring 2014.)
   
• At how many of the sites with a Permanent Solution was a deed notice or restriction (i.e., an Activity and Use Limitation) used as part of the remedy?
  Between 1994 and 2024, 9% of Permanent Solutions included an Activity and Use Limitation (AUL) as part of the final remedy. 

Note:  FY2021: the number of sites closed with AULs did not increase significantly over past years, so the observed percentage increase may be due more to the drop in 2-hour notifications during the pandemic.  2-Hour notifications tend to be closed without AULs.  Time will tell if this is a trend.

• How long does the cleanup process take?
  Over 89% of the releases from FY95 to FY15 have achieved regulatory closures in less than six years from the time of notification. Over the past 15 years, this measure appears to have stabilized at approximately 92% (+/-).  For the purpose of the chart below sites with regulatory closure include those with the compliance status of: Permanent Solution with No Conditions, Permanent Solution with Conditions, Adequately Regulated, Downgradient Property Status, RTN Closed, Memorandum of Understanding (DEPMOU), Not a Disposal Site (DEPNDS), DEP No Further Action (DEPNFA), LSP No Further Action (LSPNFA), Pending Not a Disposal Site (PENNDS), Pending No Further Action (PENNFA), Special Project (SPECPR), Utility-related Abatement Measure (URAM), Waiver Completion Statement (WCSPRM).
   

The chart below shows the length of time to achieve a Permanent or Temporary Solution from the time of notification by notification type (2-Hour, 72-Hour or 120-Day). The time required to achieve a Permanent or Temporary Solution is less than 6 years in the vast majority of cases and for all notification types (2 Hour - 98%, 72 Hour - 88%, 120 Day - 89%).  Note that pre-FY1994 sites (Notification Category = "None") required significantly more time to achieve closure.

The chart below shows the current status of notifications made in FY2018.  The chart shows that for the majority of sites for which the notification was made either a Permanent Solution has been achieved or a Permanent/Temporary Solution is not required within 6 years.  (The most common reasons why a Permanent or Temporary Solution is not required is because the notification condition has been “linked” (i.e., response actions consolidated) under another notification and release tracking number.  Other reason include the site is considered Adequately Regulated, Downgradient Property Status has been achieved or a Utility-related Abatement Measure is being conducted.)

Immediate Response Actions

Immediate Response Actions (IRAs) are required to address any condition that triggers a 2-Hour or 72-Hour notification to the Department.  IRAs are expedited response actions that include at a minimum assessment, and where appropriate, actions to contain, isolate, or remove contamination from the environment that is the result of a release or address a threat of release.  IRAs require approval by the Department.  The chart below shows IRA approvals (both oral and written) by the Department by Fiscal Year (FY).

Audits

62,312  Number of Audits conducted by MassDEP since FY2000

Since FY2000 MassDEP has conducted over 62,000 audits of response action submittals to evaluate and ensure compliance of those submittals and the associated response actions with the Massachusetts Contingency Plan.  MassDEP conducts three different types of audits, which are referred to as Level 1 (Technical Screening Audit), Level 2 (Audit Inspection), and Level 3 (Comprehensive Audit).  (Link to Audits Page) The majority of all audits conducted by MassDEP over time (86%) have been Level 1 Audits.  The chart below shows the number of audits completed by fiscal year and the type of audit.

Notifications - Year-by-Year Data

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Fiscal Year	2-Hour	72-Hour	120-Day	"None"	Total
1985	0	0	0	21	21
1986	0	0	0	194	194
1987	0	0	0	1222	1222
1988	0	0	0	398	398
1989	0	0	0	1294	1294
1990	0	0	0	1162	1162
1991	0	0	0	625	625
1992	0	0	0	503	503
1993	0	0	0	551	551
1994	1044	707	225	945	2921
1995	1070	675	465	8	2218
1996	983	533	657	7	2180
1997	1031	541	610	5	2187
1998	966	630	661	3	2260
1999	970	893	729		2592
2000	1002	464	730	4	2200
2001	1136	411	663		2210
2002	990	438	573	2	2003
2003	1020	333	577		1930
2004	1026	306	520		1852
2005	973	334	525		1832
2006	929	386	515		1830
2007	881	287	557		1725
2008	675	293	494		1462
2009	743	250	434		1427
2010	715	236	342		1294
2011	734	218	374		1326
2012	685	252	407		1344
2013	664	184	383		1231
2014	618	223	389		1230
2015	659	200	390		1249
2016	670	198	375		1243
2017	693	212	410		1315
2018	833	205	356		1394
2019	808	136	320		1264
2020	705	141	377		1223
2021	626	128	330		1084
2022	718	144	362		1224
2023	664	138	306		1108
2024	746	105	225		1076
Total-to-Date:	25977	10201	14281	6944	57404

Cleanup & Closures - Year-by-Year Data

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Fiscal Year	PSNCb	PSCb	TMPSb	Grand Total
1994	556	12	1	569
1995	1763	82	7	1852
1996	1486	102	8	1596
1997	1812	180	11	2003
1998	1644	205	17	1866
1999	1718	138	16	1872
2000	1633	130	24	1787
2001	1693	124	24	1841
2002	1603	96	25	1724
2003	1571	119	32	1722
2004	1626	112	33	1771
2005	1538	92	34	1664
2006	1586	115	33	1734
2007	1479	93	35	1607
2008	1268	100	32	1400
2009	1279	86	44	1409
2010	1188	104	52	1344
2011	1040	117	49	1206
2012	1199	82	45	1326
2013	1029	80	49	1158
2014	988	98	43	1129
2015	902	141	41	1084
2016	910	159	36	1105
2017	950	188	39	1177
2018	1034	158	49	1241
2019	952	139	37	1128
2020	925	150	34	1109
2021	791	159	43	993
2022	822	128	32	982
2023	763	143	47	953
2024	811	142	43	996
Grand Total	38559	3774	1015	43348

For a complete explanation of the terms and acronyms used here, see the document, "Understanding the Waste Site/Release Look Up Search Results" below.

^a Prior to June 20, 2014, the Massachusetts Contingency Plan (MCP) used different Response Action Outcome (RAO) classes to identify Permanent and Temporary Solutions. After the June 2014 MCP amendments, RAO classes were recategorized into types of Permanent or Temporary Solutions in accordance with the transition provisions at 310 CMR 40.1055 (see below).

310 CMR 40.1055 Transition Provisions

• (1) As of June 20, 2014, all Class A-1, A-2 and B-1 Response Action Outcomes submitted to the Department prior to June 20, 2014 shall be Permanent Solutions with No Conditions.
• (2) As of June 20, 2014, all Class A-3, A-4, B-2 and B-3 Response Action Outcomes submitted to the Department prior to June 20, 2014 shall be Permanent Solutions with Conditions.
• (3) As of June 20, 2014, all Class C-1 Response Action Outcomes submitted to the Department prior to June 20, 2014 shall be Temporary Solutions as described in 310 CMR 40.1050(1)(e)1.
• (4) As of June 20, 2014, all Class C-2 Response Action Outcomes submitted to the Department prior to June 20, 2014 shall be Temporary Solution as described in 310 CMR 40.1050(1)(e)2.

^b

• PSNC - Permanent Solution with No Conditions
• PSC - Permanent Solution with Conditions
• TMPS - Temporary Solution

Additional Resources

Understanding the Waste Site/Release Look Up Search Results

EEA Data Portal

The Data Portal provides access to search and interact with regulatory data, including MassDEP data pertaining to Permits, Facilities, Inspections, and Enforcements.

Environmental Data Portal Dashboard