EPA adds two, proposes six hazardous sites to Superfund’s National Priorities List
On Tuesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) added two hazardous waste sites that pose risks to human health and the environment to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites, in order to reduce health impacts and encourage economic revitalization of the sites.The agency is proposing to add six additional sites to the list.
“By updating the NPL, we continue to fulfill our mission to protect public health and the environment by cleaning up contaminated land and returning formerly toxic sites to communities for productive use,” said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. “Superfund cleanups help advance the economic well-being of communities by turning contaminated properties into productive community resources that can enhance property values, create jobs and broaden tax bases.”
Recent academic research contributes more evidence that Superfund cleanups help protect public health. An academic study, Superfund Cleanups and Infant Health, demonstrated that investment in Superfund cleanups reduces the incidence of congenital abnormalities for those living within 5,000 meters (or 5,468 yards) of a site.
Today, more than 800 Superfund sites across the nation support some type of continued use, active reuse or planned reuse activities. EPA found at 450 of the 800 sites, at the end of fiscal year 2014, there were operations of approximately 3,400 businesses, generating annual sales of more than $65 billion and employing more than 89,000 people. Another study conducted by researchers at Duke and Pittsburgh Universities concluded that making a site final on the NPL may increase housing prices by signaling that a site will be cleaned up. The study found that once a site has all cleanup remedies in place, nearby properties have a significant increase in property values. The following two sites have been added to the NPL:
—Indiana - Kokomo Contaminated Ground Water Plume
—Michigan - DSC McLouth Steel Gibraltar Plant (steel finishing operation) in Gibraltar
The six sites proposed for addition are in Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Montana, Texas and Washington.
The sites added Tuesday have characteristics and conditions that vary in terms of size, complexity and contamination. EPA first works to identify the parties responsible for the contamination, and requires them to conduct or pay for the cleanup. For sites without viable potentially responsible parties, EPA will investigate the extent of the contamination before starting substantial cleanup.
The DSC McLouth Steel Gibraltar Plant Area site is a former steel processing facility which ceased operations in the mid- 1990’s where mismanaged leachate control systems have resulted in contamination to adjacent creeks and drains leading to the Detroit River.
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