October 20, 2006—The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is adding five new hazardous waste sites that pose risks to human health and the environment to the National Priorities List of Superfund sites. This brings the total of final sites on the list to 1,246. EPA is also proposing to add six other sites to the list.
National Priorities List sites are the most serious sites across the country that have been identified for possible long-term cleanup by EPA’s Superfund program. With the proposal of the six new sites, there are 61 proposed sites awaiting final agency action: 56 in the general Superfund section and 5 in the federal facilities section. Altogether, there are 1,307 final and proposed sites.
The following sites have been added to the National Priorities List: ASARCO Taylor Springs, Taylor Springs, IL; Ringwood Mines/Landfill, Ringwood, NJ; Matteo & Sons, Inc., Thorofare, NJ; Maunabo Area Ground Water Contamination, Maunabo, Puerto Rico; and Pesticide Warehouse I, Arecibo, Puerto Rico.
The following sites have been proposed for the National Priorities List: Elm Street Ground Water Contamination, Terre Haute, IN; South Minneapolis Residential Soil Contamination, Minneapolis, MN; Sonford Products, Flowood, MS; Bandera Road Ground Water Plume, Leon Valley, TX; East 67th Street Ground Water Plume, Odessa, TX ; and Lockheed West Seattle, Seattle, WA.
With all Superfund sites, EPA tries to identify and locate the parties potentially responsible for the contamination. Historically, through EPA’s enforcement program, approximately 70 percent of Superfund cleanups have been performed by the parties responsible for site contamination.
For more information about the Superfund program or the final and proposed sites, visit EPA’s National Priority List Updates site.
