NEW YORK (February 27, 2024) - Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the Scorpio Recycling, Inc. Superfund site in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico is among the over 100 sites across the country getting more than $1 billion for cleanup projects as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. This funding is made possible by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will launch new cleanup projects at 25 Superfund sites and continue other cleanups at over 85 Superfund sites.
Thousands of contaminated sites exist nationally due to hazardous waste being dumped, left out in the open, or otherwise improperly managed. These sites can include toxic chemicals from manufacturing facilities, processing plants, landfills and mining, and can harm the health and well-being of local communities in urban and rural areas. More than one in four Black and Hispanic Americans live within three miles of a Superfund site.
"People living in Puerto Rico have seen firsthand how transformative the Superfund program can be for communities,” said Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “This investment in America and in Puerto Rico builds on the historic progress we have already made in recent years to ensure that communities living near the most serious uncontrolled, or abandoned contaminated sites get the protections they deserve.”
“The Biden-Harris Administration continues its steadfast support for Puerto Rico in our collaborative efforts to protect our natural resources. Following last week’s announcement of $63.3 million from the EPA for water resources and infrastructure work, today we are pleased to announce another allocation for cleanup at the Scorpio Recycling, Inc Superfund site. This area, which was a metal recycling facility until 2010 in Toa Baja, is one of the 100 sites across the Nation that will receive more than $1 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The $3.1 million that EPA is allocating to Puerto Rico will be used to further the cleaning efforts and address contamination at the site. Once again, actions speak louder than words, and my administration will continue working with the federal government to protect our environment and the health of all American citizens living in Puerto Rico, “said Governor Pedro R. Pierluisi.
The Scorpio Recycling Inc. site in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico was a 6-acre metal recycling facility that bought all types of metal and sold it to foundries in the United States, Brazil, Spain and Japan. The facility began operating in 1972. The site was poorly operated, and the soil became contaminated with acids, lead and other metals. EPA has addressed the immediate risks by excavating and removing battery casings, miscellaneous debris, and stabilized soil contamination on portions of the site by treating the soil with trisodium phosphate as a temporary mitigation measure to immobilize the lead.
EPA BIL funding will be used to install a gravel cover in an industrial area and soil cover in a conservation area of the site. This work which has an estimated value of $3.1 million and will be the last work planned to address contamination at this site. The work is expected to be fully completed in 2028.
Today’s investment is the final wave of funding from the $3.5 billion allocated for Superfund cleanup work in the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. So far, EPA has deployed more than $2 billion for cleanup activities at more than 150 Superfund National Priorities List sites.
Thanks President Biden’s commitment to addressing legacy pollution and improving public health, EPA has been able to provide as much funding for cleanup work in the past two years as it did in the previous five years while delivering on President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set a goal to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
EPA is committed to advancing environmental justice and incorporating equity considerations into all aspects of the Superfund cleanup process. Thus far, nearly 80% of the funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has gone to sites in communities with potential environmental justice concerns. Out of the 25 sites to receive funding for new cleanup projects, more than 75% are in communities with potential environmental justice concerns based on data from EJSCREEN.
President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is restoring the health and economic vitality of communities that have been exposed to pervasive legacy pollution. The historic investment made by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law strengthens every part of the Superfund program, making a dramatic difference in EPA’s ability to tackle threats to human health and the environment. In addition to funding cleanup construction work, the investment is enabling EPA to increase funding for and accelerate essential work needed to prepare sites for construction and to ensure communities are meaningfully involved in the cleanup process. In 2023, EPA continued to fund Superfund pre-construction activities such as remedial investigations, feasibility studies, remedial designs, and community involvement at double pre-Bipartisan Infrastructure Law levels.
In 1980, Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERLCA), known as Superfund. The law gave EPA the authority and funds to hold polluters accountable for cleaning up the most contaminated sites across the country. When no viable responsible party is found or cannot afford the cleanup, EPA steps in to address risks to human health and the environment using funds appropriated by Congress, like the funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
To see a list of the 25 sites to receive funding for new cleanup projects, visit EPA’s Superfund webpage.
To see highlights from the first two years of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding at Superfund sites, visit EPA’s Cleaning Up Superfund Sites: Highlights of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding website.
For more information about EPA’s Superfund program, visit EPA’s Superfund website.
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