EPA adds six Superfund sites to National Priorities List and proposes four more

Six new hazardous waste sites were named National Priorities on the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of Superfund sites. The EPA also proposed that four additional sites be added to the list, joining 55 other sites awaiting final agency action. Finally, there was a proposal to restore the Ringwood Mines/Landfill site to the National Priorities List. The site was originally added to the list Sept. 1, 1983 and deleted Nov. 2, 1994. Including these latest additions, the Superfund list encompasses 1,303 final and proposed sites.

The following sites have been added to the National Priorities List:

Klau/Buena Vista Mine, San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Alternate Energy Resources, Augusta, Ga.

Olin Chemical, Wilmington, Mass.

Parkview Well, Grand Island, Neb.

West Highway 6 & Highway 281, Hastings, Neb.

Quendall Terminals, Renton, Wash.

The following sites have been proposed to the National Priorities List:

ASARCO Taylor Springs, Taylor Springs, Ill.

Sherwin-Williams/Hilliards Creek, Gibbsboro, N.J.

Matteo & Sons Inc., Thorofare, N.J.

Maunabo Urbano Public Wells, Maunabo, Puerto Rico

The following site has been proposed to be restored to the National Priorities List:

Ringwood Mines/Landfill, Ringwood, N.J.

According to today’s EPA press release, contaminants found at these final and proposed sites include benzene, carbon tetrachloride, chromium, creosote, mercury, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NMDA), carcinogenic polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds, toluene, trichloroethene (TCE), tetrachloroethene (PCE), vinyl chloride and other volatile organic compounds.

As part of the Superfund procedure, the EPA tries to identify the parties responsible for a site’s contamination and holds them responsible for the cleanup. In 70 percent of cases, the offending parties complete the cleanup.