The following press release was published by the US EPA on Sept. 8. It is reproduced in full below.
CHICAGO (Sept. 8, 2021) Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed adding 13 sites nationwide, including the North 5th Street Groundwater Contamination site in Goshen, Indiana, to the National Priorities List. The NPL is the list of hazardous waste sites in the United States eligible for remedial cleanup action financed under the federal Superfund program.
With this Superfund NPL update, the Biden-Harris Administration is demonstrating a commitment to updating the NPL twice a year. By pledging to add sites more regularly to the NPL, EPA is taking action to protect the health of communities across the country while cleaning up and returning blighted properties to safe and productive reuse in areas where environmental cleanup and jobs are needed most.
“EPA recognizes that no community deserves to have contaminated sites near where they live, work, pray, and go to school. By adding sites to the Superfund NPL, we are helping to ensure that more communities living near the nation’s most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination have the protection they deserve,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to increasing funding and working with Congress on the bipartisan infrastructure deal to provide the Superfund Program with the resources it needs to address a backlog of sites awaiting cleanup, as well as additional sites in need of cleanup.”
The North 5th Street Groundwater Contamination site consists of a comingled plume of chlorinated substances that has contaminated the groundwater in four municipal wells that supply drinking water to the city of Goshen, Indiana. Chlorinated solvents have been detected at levels below the Safe Drinking Water Act Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) in four of the city of Goshen’s municipal wells. The state identified more than 67 facilities that used chlorinated solvents within one mile of the Goshen North well field but has not been able to identify a definitive source of the groundwater contamination. Many of these potential source facilities are being addressed under state authorities, but no state program can address the existing contamination plume. The state of Indiana referred the site to the EPA because the site requires further investigation and may require long-term cleanup beyond the state’s capability.
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.
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 2020, EPA has collected economic data on 632 Superfund sites, finding 9,900 businesses in operation, 227,000 people employed, $16.3 billion in employee-earned income, and $63.3 billion in business-generated sales.
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
Source: US EPA
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