EPA Updates Superfund National Priorities List, Taking Action to Address Risks to Public Health and Build a Better America
Hercules Inc. Site in Hattiesburg, Mississippi proposed as the next step in the process towards cleanup
ATLANTA (March 17, 2022) — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is adding 12 sites and proposing to add another five sites to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) where releases of contamination pose significant human health and environmental risks. Cleaning up contaminated sites is important for the health, safety, and revitalization of communities.
“No community deserves to have contaminated sites near where they live, work, play, and go to school. Nearly 2 out of 3 of the sites being proposed or added to the priorities list are in overburdened or underserved communities,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “EPA is building a better America by taking action to clean up some of the nation’s most contaminated sites, protect communities’ health, and return contaminated land to safe and productive reuse for future generations.”
“Protecting overburdened communities from the toxic effects of Superfund sites is one of EPA’s highest priorities,” said EPA Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman. “By proposing sites such as Hercules Inc. to the Superfund NPL, we are making good on our commitment to protect the people we serve and support local community revitalization by allowing land to be safely redeveloped for productive use.”
The Hercules, Inc. site is located on approximately 200 acres of land north of West 7th Street in Hattiesburg, Forrest County, Mississippi. The Hercules Hattiesburg facility began operations in 1923. Throughout the facility’s history the operations consisted of extracting and/or working with rosins to produce rosin derivatives, paper chemicals, and Delnav®, an agricultural insecticide (miticide). Process operations at the Site were shut down at the end of 2009. Many of the former plant buildings have been demolished. Hercules has had air, storm water, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, and State of Mississippi-issued Water Pollution Control (pre-treatment) permits that covered discharges from the Site when it was in operation. Since 2007, Hercules has conducted site investigations, interim remedies, and routine groundwater and surface water monitoring and reporting activities to comply with EPA and State orders. On May 9, 2011, the EPA issued a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Section 3013(a) Administrative Order that requires Hercules to conduct environmental investigation activities to determine the nature and extent of potential contamination on site and off site. More information can be found at www.epa.gov/superfund/hercules-inc.
Thousands of contaminated sites, from landfills, processing plants, to manufacturing facilities exist nationally due to hazardous waste being dumped, left out in the open, or otherwise improperly managed. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will accelerate EPA’s work to help communities clean up these contaminated sites with a $3.5 billion investment in the Superfund Remedial Program and reinstates the Superfund chemical excise taxes, making it one of the largest investments in American history to address legacy pollution. This historic investment strengthens EPA’s ability to tackle threats to human health and the environment, and EPA has already set action in motion to clear the backlog of the 49 contaminated sites which had been awaiting funding to start remedial action. With this Superfund NPL update, the Biden-Harris Administration is following through on its commitment to update the NPL twice a year, as opposed to once per year.
EPA is adding the following sites in the Southeast to the NPL:
- Westside Lead, Atlanta, Georgia
- Galey and Lord Plant, Society Hill, South Carolina
- National Fireworks, Cordova, Tennessee
EPA is proposing to add the following site in the Southeast to the NPL:
- Hercules Inc, Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Background
The NPL includes the nation’s most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination. The list serves as the basis for prioritizing EPA Superfund cleanup funding and enforcement actions. Only releases at sites included on the NPL are eligible to receive federal funding for long-term, permanent cleanup.
EPA proposes sites to the NPL based on a scientific determination of risks to people and the environment, consistent with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan. Before EPA adds a site to the NPL, a site must meet EPA’s requirements and be proposed for addition to the list in the Federal Register, subject to a 60-day public comment period. EPA will add the site 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.
Superfund cleanups provide health and economic benefits to communities. The program is credited for significant reductions in both birth defects and blood-lead levels among children living near sites, and research has shown residential property values increase up to 24 percent within three miles of sites after cleanup.
Further, thanks to Superfund cleanups, communities are now using previously blighted properties for a wide range of purposes, including retail businesses, office space, public parks, residences, warehouses, and solar power generation. As of 2021, EPA has collected economic data on 650 Superfund sites. At these sites, there are 10,230 businesses operating on these sites, 246,000 people employed, an estimated $18.6 billion in income earned by employees, and $65.8 billion in sales generated by businesses.
For information about Superfund and the NPL, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund
For Federal Register notices and supporting documents for NPL and proposed sites, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/current-npl-updates-new-proposed-npl-sites-and-new-npl-sites