WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is adding one site and proposing to add four additional sites to the Superfund National Priorities List where releases of contamination pose significant human health and environmental risks.
“When we add a site to the National Priorities List, EPA is committing to permanently addressing contamination on-site and ensuring surrounding communities receive the protection and support they deserve,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Thanks to President Biden’s investments in America, EPA is making sure complex hazardous waste sites get the long-term federal financial assistance and cleanup support they need to safeguard critical resources families rely on, like clean drinking water.”
The sites included in today’s actions demonstrate EPA’s commitment to priority environmental issues like the long-term protection of drinking water, reducing childhood lead exposure, remediating contamination from per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, addressing the legacy of uranium contamination in the Navajo Nation, and advancing environmental justice. All the sites being added or proposed to be added to the National Priorities List are in communities with potential environmental justice concerns based on data from EJSCREEN.
Thousands of contaminated sites, from landfills, to processing plants, to manufacturing facilities, exist nationally due to hazardous waste being dumped, left out in the open, or otherwise improperly managed. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law accelerates EPA’s work to clean up this pollution with a $3.5 billion investment in the Superfund Remedial Program. The law also reinstates the Superfund chemical excise taxes, making it one of the largest investments in American history to address legacy pollution. This historic investment strengthens EPA’s ability to tackle threats to human health and the environment from Superfund National Priorities List sites.
EPA is adding the following site to the National Priorities List:
- East Basin Road Groundwater site in New Castle, Delaware.
EPA is proposing to add the following sites to the National Priorities List:
- Federated Metals Corp Whiting in Hammond, Indiana.
- Capitol Lakes in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
- Fansteel Metals/FMRI in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
- Lukachukai Mountains Mining District in Cove, Navajo Nation, Arizona.
EPA typically proposes sites to the National Priorities List based on a scientific determination of risks to people and the environment, consistent with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan. The National Contingency Plan also allows each State to designate a single site as its top-priority to be listed on the National Priorities List, without the need to apply a scientific determination. The State of Oklahoma is designating the Fansteel Metals/FMRI site its top-priority site.
Before EPA adds a site to the National Priorities List, a site must meet EPA’s requirements and be proposed for addition to the list in the Federal Register, subject to a 60-day public comment period. EPA will add the site to the National Priorities List if it continues to meet the listing requirements after the public comment period closes and the agency has responded to any comments.
Background:
The National Priorities List includes the nation’s most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination. This list serves as the basis for prioritizing EPA Superfund cleanup funding and enforcement actions. Only releases at non-federal sites included on the National Priorities List are eligible to receive federal funding for long-term, permanent cleanup.
Superfund cleanups provide health and economic benefits to communities. The program is credited for significant reductions in both birth defects and blood-lead levels among children living near sites, and research has shown residential property values increase up to 24 percent within three miles of sites after cleanup.
Since taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration has followed through on updating the National Priorities List twice a year, as opposed to once per year. Today’s announcement is the first time EPA is updating the National Priorities List in 2023.
Learn about Superfund and the National Priorities List.
For Federal Register notices and supporting documents for the National Priorities List and proposed sites, please visit:
New Proposed and New Superfund National Priorities List Sites.
from EPA News Releases https://ift.tt/GDVh34r