EPA Announces New Mexico & Louisiana Sites Will Receive Part of First $1B from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funds to Clear Out the Superfund Backlog
Initial resources will also accelerate cleanup for dozens of additional Superfund projects
EPA Announces New Mexico & Louisiana Sites Will Receive Part of First $1B from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funds to Clear Out the Superfund Backlog
Initial resources will also accelerate cleanup for dozens of additional Superfund projects
DALLAS (Friday, Dec. 17, 2021) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a $1 billion investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to initiate cleanup and clear the backlog of 49 previously unfunded Superfund sites and accelerate cleanup at dozens of other sites across the country. These include American Creosote Works (Winnfield) and Marion Pressure Treating in Louisiana and Eagle Picher Carefree Battery and McGaffey & Main Groundwater Plume in New Mexico. Until this historic investment, many of these were part of a backlog of hazardous waste sites awaiting funding. Thousands of contaminated sites exist nationally due to hazardous waste being dumped, left out in the open, or otherwise improperly managed. These sites include manufacturing facilities, processing plants, landfills and mining sites.
“This work is just the beginning; with more than 1 in 4 Black and Hispanic Americans living within 3 miles of a Superfund site, EPA is working to serve people that have been left behind,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Approximately 60 percent of the sites to receive funding for new cleanup projects are in historically underserved communities. Communities living near many of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination will finally get the protections they deserve.”
“Communities with Superfund sites often contend with long waits for cleanup to finish,” said Regional Administrator Dr. Earthea Nance. “This funding will go a long way to help complete the work on these sites so Marion and Winnfield, Louisiana, and Socorro and Roswell, New Mexico, can keep families safe and move forward with reincorporating the properties back into their communities.”
“Cleaning up these sites is long overdue. That’s why I’m proud to welcome this federal funding support from the EPA to assist the ongoing cleanup efforts at these two contaminated sites in Socorro and Roswell,” said Senator Martin Heinrich. “I will continue to work with local leaders to monitor progress and make sure local residents are safe from dangerous pollution.”
“I’m proud to have supported the provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that empower the EPA’s Superfund program to clean up contaminated sites in Socorro and Roswell,” said Senator Ben Ray Luján. “Addressing the environmental and public health tolls these contaminated sites have on our communities has been long overdue. I’m proud that my colleagues and I provided much-needed funds to reduce the backlog of critical projects.”
More about the Louisiana and New Mexico sites:
American Creosote Works, Inc., in Winnfield, La., is a 34-acre lot where groundwater and soils have been contaminated by pentachlorophenol (PCP) and other pollutants associated with wood treating. While much of the site has been cleaned up, more remedial actions have been awaiting funding. The city and Winn Parish plan to use the site for first-responder training facilities.
Marion Pressure Treating near Marion, La., is a 22-acre lot where soils and groundwater have been contaminated by chemicals used during previous wood-treating operations. Some short-term clean up has been done, but the final remedial design is waiting for funding before it can be implemented.
“As mayor of the town of Marion, I'm pleased that federal funding has been approved for the Marion Superfund Site, formerly known as Marion Pressure Treating,” said Mayor Danny A. Smith. “The completion of the site cleanup will help alleviate public health concerns
and permit the site to be available for future development opportunities.”
Eagle Picher Carefree Battery in Socorro, N.M., is a former industrial site with groundwater and soil contamination from TCE, heavy metals, asbestos, and other pollutants. EPA and the state of New Mexico have undertaken remedial work at the site for decades, but the final remedial action for groundwater and soil contamination depends on available funding.
“Wow! We are very pleased in the investment by President Biden and the bipartisan group to help clean up our Superfund site at Eagle Pitcher,” said Mayor of Socorro Ravi Bhasker. “This will make a significant difference in our quality of life and future viability of our small city.”
The McGaffey and Main site in Roswell, N.M., housed former dry-cleaning operations which contaminated groundwater with perchloroethene (PCE). Remedial action activities for the source area soil and soil vapor are ongoing at the site. The remedial design for cleanup of the source area groundwater was completed in July 2017 and is pending funding to begin cleanup activities.
The $1 billion investment is the first wave of funding from the $3.5 billion in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help cleanup polluted Superfund sites in communities. The backlog of previously unfunded sites that will now be receiving funding are in 24 states and territories and all 10 EPA regions, including some communities who have been waiting for cleanup for more than four years.
“I’m truly pleased to see EPA prioritize cleaning up some of our nation’s most contaminated sites,” said Senator Tom Carper. “For years, we have been unable to address the contamination in Superfund sites across the country due to a lack of funding—something we worked to change in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Addressing legacy pollution is not only the right thing to do, it also directly benefits nearby communities by improving public health, creating good-paying jobs, and shielding these sites from spreading more contamination in the event of climate change fueled storms.”
EPA is committed to carrying out this work in line with President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative by advancing environmental justice and incorporating equity considerations into all aspects of the Superfund cleanup process. This will help ensure that historic and ongoing impacts of contamination on overburdened communities are fully considered and addressed.
The funds will supercharge the Superfund program to address the toll contaminated sites have on communities. EPA is finalizing cleanup plans and preparing funding mechanisms to get construction work started as soon as possible. More information about funding for backlogged sites and accelerated cleanup sites will be available in the coming weeks.
In 1980, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, known as Superfund, was passed. The novel 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, funds appropriated by Congress are used. A tax on chemical and petroleum industries provided funds to the Superfund Trust fund for Superfund cleanups up until 1995. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law reinstates the chemical excise taxes and invests an additional $3.5 billion in environmental remediation at Superfund sites, making it one of the largest investments in American history to address the legacy pollution that harms the public health of communities and neighborhoods.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a once-in-a-generation investment that will create millions of jobs modernizing our infrastructure, turn the climate crisis into an opportunity, and put us on a path to win the economic competition for the 21st century.
For more information and to see a list of the 49 sites to receive funding for new cleanup projects, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-sites-new-construction-projects-receive-bipartisan-infrastructure-law-funding
For more information about EPA’s Superfund program, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund