EPA removes part of Summit National site in Deerfield, Ohio, from Superfund list
CHICAGO (August 17, 2022) – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it has deleted a portion of the Summit National site in Deerfield Township, Portage County, Ohio, from the Superfund’s National Priorities List, or NPL. Cleanup continues at the groundwater portion of the site which remains on the NPL along with surface water and sediment areas.
“Years of complex investigation and cleanup work have gone into getting this site to where it is today,” said EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore. “EPA’s commitment to cleanup Superfund sites will help restore the area to productive use.”
The 11.5-acre site at 1240 Alliance Road is located on a former coal strip mine containing a coal wash pond and stockpile. From 1974 to 1978, the site was used as a waste disposal facility for oil, resin, paint and metal-plating sludge, and flammable, chlorinated solvents. Some waste was incinerated and some was buried or dumped on the soil. The groundwater, soil, surface water, and sediments were contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, volatile organic compounds, phenols, phthalates, and heavy metals.
The cleanup involved removing over 17,000 drums and tanks from the site for off-site disposal and excavating 18,600 tons of contaminated soil for on-site thermal treatment. The treated soil was tested, retreated if needed, backfilled onto the site, covered by a 2-foot soil cover, and then revegetated. Regular groundwater monitoring over the last 16 years confirms that remaining contaminated groundwater unsafe for drinking is not moving off site. Operation and maintenance, land and groundwater use restrictions, and groundwater monitoring will continue.
Sites on the NPL include the nation’s most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of hazardous substances. EPA deletes sites or parts of sites from the NPL when no further cleanup is required to protect human health or the environment.
EPA encourages site reuse and deleting a site from the NPL can help revitalize communities, raise property values, and promote economic growth by signaling to potential developers and financial institutions that cleanup is complete.
At Summit National and all sites where hazardous substances and pollutants or contaminants remain above levels that permit unlimited use and unrestricted exposure, EPA conducts follow-up reviews every five years—even after NPL deletion. These reviews provide an opportunity to evaluate the completed cleanup to ensure people and the environment continue to be protected.
More information about the site can be found on the Summit National website.
Please visit the federal register website to see the finalized partial deletion notice.
The partial deletion report website provides background information about the site and explains how the site meets EPA’s criteria for partial completion and deletion.
You can view the deletion docket index website for reports supporting this proposed partial deletion.
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