In this quarterly meeting of the Tribal Superfund Working Group, we were joined by Carlos Pachon, from the US EPA’s Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI). Carlos presented a summary of lessons learned in conducting climate vulnerability assessments (CVAs) at sites on the National Priorities List (NPL). His presentation covered:
The underlying authorities to consider climate change at NPL sites
Key questions addressed through the climate vulnerability assessment process
Tools and data sources used to develop climate projections
Recurring climate vulnerabilities that could affect remedy protectiveness
The associated adaptation measures needed to increase remedy resilience to climate impacts
He also provided a few examples of sites with Native American interest where such an assessment has been done and/or climate adaptation measures have been implemented.
