Environmental Cleanup

The U.S. government involves itself in environmental cleanup efforts under regulations defined by various acts and executive orders, such as CERCLA or Superfund, NEPA, and RCRA. The EPA has a useful list of many of these acts. Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) are sites that contain environmental hazards caused by activities of the U.S. Military. Brownfields are sites that contain pollutants. Defense Environmental Restoration Program Sites, or Superfund sites, contain such large amounts of pollutants that they pose a serious threat to the environment and human health.

Slide No. 412-DA-1421; Photographer Bill Gillette; "Barren land remained after a gold mill was abandoned in the 1930s. The land is so saturated with acid that no vegetation can survive." (Cripple Creek, Colorado); June 1972; DOCUMERICA: The Environmental Protection Agency's Program to Photographically Document Subjects of Environmental Concern, 1972 - 1977; Record Group 412; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online version (543914) https://catalog.archives.gov/id/542493 National Archives and Records Administration, August 18, 2020.]