Honigman attorney served as peer reviewer for recently released National Academy of Sciences report

Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP has announced that the chair of its Environmental Law Department, Steven C. Nadeau, was recognized as a peer reviewer of the recently released National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Report entitled "Sediment Dredging at Superfund Megasites: Assessing the Effectiveness."  

Contaminated sediments can be found at the bottom of many U.S. rivers and other water bodies near former mining, agricultural, or industrial sites. The technical feasibility, cost and complexity of contaminated sediment sites is a significant challenge nationally, with some estimates that the price tag to address this issue could exceed $1 trillion. Many of these sites are slated for cleanup by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the federal Superfund program. A minimum of 14 of them are sediment "megasites" -- where the cost of remediating sediments is expected to reach at least $50 million or already has.  

Decisions about whether to dredge at these sites have proved controversial, so Congress asked the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate the method's effectiveness. To form its conclusions, the NAS Committee on Dredging Effectiveness examined 26 dredging projects, five of them at megasites, and evaluated whether they had attained their cleanup and risk-reduction goals.  

The report was sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter.  

Nadeau is a national leader in working on contaminated sediment sites, and has worked on projects in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, New York and New Jersey.  In addition, Nadeau founded and is the coordinating director of the Sediment Management Work Group (SMWG), an ad hoc industry group with 42 Members and 42 Sponsors, whose mission is to advocate risk-based approaches for managing contaminated sediment.  

Copies of the report will be available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nas.edu. Reporters may obtain a pre-publication copy from the Office of News and Public Information (Contacts: Sara Frueh, Media Relations Officer ; Sarah Morocco, Media Relations Assistant, 202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu).