EPA adds two Superfund sites to the National Priorities List and proposes adding five more because releases of contamination pose risks to human health and the environment.

The National Priorities List (NPL) is comprised of the nation’s most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste releases. The list serves as EPA’s basis for prioritizing Superfund cleanup funding and enforcement actions. And only releases at sites included on the NPL are eligible to receive federal funding for long-term, permanent cleanup.

While containing risks from contamination and elimating negatives present on site, cleanups through EPA's Superfund program provide direct and substantial health and economic benefits to communities. The program is credited for significant reductions in birth defects and blood-lead levels among children living near sites, and research has shown residential property values increase up to 24% within 3 miles of sites after cleanup.

Redeveloped Superfund sites can also generate substantial economic activity. At 529 Superfund sites returned to productive use so far, 8,600 businesses operate with 195,000 employees earning more than $13 billion in annual income.

Last week, EPA announced that it is adding two sites and proposing to add five sites to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) where releases of contamination pose human health and environmental risks. The following sites are being added to the NPL:

• Arsenic Mine in Kent, N.Y.
• Schroud Property in Chicago, Ill.

Before being added to the NPL, a site must meet the listing requirements and be proposed for addition to the list in the Federal Register, subject to a 60-day public comment period. The site will be added to the NPL if it continues to meet the listing requirements after the public comment period closes and the agency has responded to any comments.

The following sites are being proposed to the NPL:

• Blades Groundwater in Blades, Del.
• Clearwater Finishing in Clearwater, S.C.
• Highway 100 and County Road 3 Groundwater Plume in St. Louis Park and Edina, Minn.
• Henryetta Iron and Metal in Henryetta, Okla.
• Caney Residential Yards in Caney, Kan.

“Our commitment to communities with sites on the National Priorities List is that they are a true national priority,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Under the Trump Administration, EPA has a renewed focus on the Superfund program. We are taking action to clean up some of the nation’s most contaminated sites, protect the health of communities, and return contaminated land to safe and productive reuse for future generations.”

For information about Superfund and the NPL:
https://www.epa.gov/superfund

For Federal Register notices and supporting documents for NPL and proposed sites: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/current-npl-updates-new-proposed-npl-sites-and-new-npl-sites

Source: U.S. EPA.

What's a "Redfield"?

A Redfield is real property with known environmental contaminants or conditions that the owner, the government or a reliable third party have determined is in need of remediation as a prerequisite to future development to mitigate potential human health risks or to comply with environmental laws—and specifically the 9 exclusion in the brownfield law, including Superfund sites list on the National Priorities List. Unlike a Brownfield, there is no doubt about whether a Redfield requires remediation.

Learn more about redfields and all the tags in the BL Taxonomy.

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