What is a Potentially Responsible Party?
A “potentially responsible party” or PRP, is a company, organization or individual that the EPA determines possibly played a role in the contamination of a Superfund site. This includes parties involved in generation of the waste, and parties involved in transporting it to the site. PRPs can also include past and present owners of the land or facility, and past and present facility operators. The EPA keeps a database of all PRPs called List 11. About three-fourths of all Superfund sites have at least one PRP listed in this database. There are about 180 sites that have only one company listed as the “potentially responsible party”. EPA’s listing of a PRP does not necessarily mean the entity has any environmental liability at the site. (Much of this study is based on the analysis of an internal list of PRPs created by the EPA.
A “potentially responsible party” or PRP, is a company, organization or individual that the EPA determines possibly played a role in the contamination of a Superfund site. This includes parties involved in generation of the waste, and parties involved in transporting it to the site. PRPs can also include past and present owners of the land or facility, and past and present facility operators. The EPA keeps a database of all PRPs called List 11. About three-fourths of all Superfund sites have at least one PRP listed in this database. There are about 180 sites that have only one company listed as the “potentially responsible party”. EPA’s listing of a PRP does not necessarily mean the entity has any environmental liability at the site.
