The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Principles for Greener Cleanups outline the Agency's policy for evaluating and minimizing the environmental footprint of activities undertaken when cleaning up a contaminated site. Use of the best management practices (BMPs) recommended in EPA’s series of green remediation fact sheets can help project managers and other stakeholders apply the principles on a routine basis while maintaining the cleanup objectives, ensuring protectiveness of a remedy, and improving its environmental outcome. Remediation at thousands of sites across the United States involves hazardous waste from former industrial landfills or waste piles, aged municipal landfills, or illegal dumps. A cover system is commonly installed at these areas as part of proper closure to serve as a surface barrier that contains the source material, reduces contaminant exposure or migration, and manages associated risk. The environmental footprint of activities needed to install and maintain a cover system can be reduced by adhering to EPA's Principles for Greener Cleanups (December 2011, 6 pages).

The Lee Chemical Superfund Site (site) is located along Missouri Highway 210 in Liberty, Missouri, approximately 15 miles east of Kansas City, Missouri. Currently, the site is a vacant lot of approximately 2.5 acres in a flat alluvial plain. The City of Liberty (City) has a municipal well field located approximately 0.40 miles southeast of the site. There are nine municipal water wells situated in a north-south line in the alluvial aquifer at an approximately perpendicular angle to the site. Historically, the City leased the land to the Lee Chemical Company, but then filed suit against Lee Chemical Company in 1975 for nonpayment of rent. The City then found and removed approximately 300 abandoned 55-gallon drums containing chemicals and wastes. In 1979, low levels of trichloroethene (TCE) were detected in the public water supply wells. Subsequent EPA and State investigations revealed contaminated ground water and soil, and in 1982 the City and State identified the site as a source of TCE contamination in the public water supply. The current remedy in place for the Lee Chemical Superfund Site consists of the operation of an in situ aqueous soil washing system, the extraction of ground water from extraction wells (EX) EX-1 and PW-2, and the discharge of the extracted ground water from both extraction wells to a single, permitted outfall to Town Branch Creek. This Remedial Action (RA) is continually monitored and reported on through monthly and quarterly progress reports. The site remedy was considered Operational and Functional (O&F) on March 26, 1994. Recommendations are provided to improve remedy effectiveness, provide technical improvement, and gain site closure (December 2011, 69 pages).

The Palermo Wellfield Superfund Site (Site) is located near Interstate Highway 5 and Trosper Road in Tumwater, Washington. The Site includes a City-operated water-supply wellfield and an adjacent residential neighborhood in the Deschutes River Valley (sometimes referenced in site documents as the Palermo Valley), as well as upland source areas including the current Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Materials Testing Laboratory (MTL), a former WSDOT MTL, and the Southgate Dry Cleaners business. Trichloroethene (TCE) was detected in the City water supply at the wellfield in 1993. Subsequent investigations identified a TCE ground water plume over 3,000 feet (ft) long and 600 ft wide, and a smaller tetrachloroethene (PCE) plume near the Southgate Dry Cleaners site. U.S. EPA Region 10 nominated the Site for an optimization review due to an interest in updating the conceptual site model (CSM) and concerns regarding plume migration control and the potential for vapor intrusion (VI) (January 2012, 152 pages).