EPA Adds Ten Hazardous Waste Sites to Superfund’s National Priorities List

In a press release issued on March 2, 2010, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it is adding 10 new hazardous waste sites to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites.  These sites pose risks to human health and the environment from contaminants including arsenic, benzene, chromium, copper, creosote, cyanide, dichloroethene (DCE), lead, mercury, perchloroethene, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and selenium, among others. Eight additional sites are proposed to also be added to the NPL of Superfund sites. 

The following 10 sites have been added to the NPL:

Salt Chuck Mine (Outer Ketchikan County, Alaska)

JJ Seifert Machine (Ruskin, Fla.)

Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp - Jacksonville (Jacksonville, Fla.)

Chemetco (Madison County, Ill.)

Lake Calumet Cluster (Chicago, Ill.)

Gratiot County Golf Course (St. Louis, Mich.)

Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp – Navassa (Navassa, N.C.)

Gowanus Canal (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Black Butte Mine (Cottage Grove, Ore.)

Van Der Horst USA Corporation (Terrell, Texas)

 

The following eight sites have been proposed to the NPL:

Sanford Dry Cleaners (Sanford, Fla.)

St. Clair Shores Drain (St. Clair Shores, Mich.)

Vienna Wells (Vienna, Mo.)

ACM Smelter and Refinery (Cascade County, Mont.)

Wright Chemical Corporation (Riegelwood, N.C.)

Black River PCBs (Jefferson County, N.Y.)

Dewey Loeffel Landfill (Nassau, N.Y.)

Smokey Mountain Smelters (Knox County, Tenn.)

For a copy of the USEPA Press Release,  click on the document name.

Click here to visit the USEPA website.

• USEPA issued its Clean Water Act Enforcement Action Plan on October 15, 2009.  This new plan identifies specific shortcomings in the federal Clean Water Act regulatory program, particularly mentioning agricultural run-off as a specific pollution source which requires additional regulatory attention. USEPA highlighted its concerns about agricultural run-off as one of the major non-point sources of water pollution.  This issue is mentioned several times just on the first page of the action plan.  (Note:  Over the past several weeks, Charles Duhigg of the New York Times has run a series of articles on clean water issues in the United States, including the impact of agricultural chemicals on drinking water.  To review these articles, click New York Times.)

The Action Plan also discusses the need for certain states to promptly strengthen and revamp their Clean Water Act enforcement programs by advancing more aggressive civil and criminal investigative and oversight actions.  The Agency further warns various states that if vigorous enforcement measures are not immediately pursued, then USEPA will step in and undertake the necessary measures itself to ensure that public health and the environment are protected.  Although USEPA did not single out any particular state, USEPA did note that certain state EPA’s have failed to identify significant non-compliance with federal water quality requirements or have failed to take timely and appropriate enforcement action against polluters.  Since the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is not specifically named in the Plan, and since neither the Lisle Lockformer case nor the Crestwood water case were specifically mentioned, it remains to be seen how USEPA will be involved in Illinois matters.  However, it is safe to say that the federal government is watching and setting its agenda for the near future, even if certain states choose to stay on the sidelines. 

For a copy of the USEPA Clean Water Act Enforcement Action Plan,  or the Transmittal Memorandum, click on the document name.

Click here to visit the USEPA website.

July 2009

• Mark Misiorowski sponsors fundraiser effort to support Muscular Dystrophy Association of America.  "Lock Up" will take place on August 5, 2009 at Catch 35 Restaurant in Naperville, Illinois.