EPA adds sites in Mississippi, Nebraska to the Superfund National Priorities List

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the addition of two sites to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) where releases of contamination pose significant human health and environmental risks.

The EPA is adding the following sites to the NPL:

• Hercules Inc., Hattiesburg, Mississippi: The Hercules Inc. site was home to a former 200-acre chemical manufacturer located in a mixed residential, commercial and industrial area. During operations more than 250 chemical products, including paper and textile chemicals, paints, varnishes, pesticides and insecticides were produced. Improper handling and disposal of these chemicals led to soil, waste and groundwater contamination in amounts that exceed the EPA’s Regional Screening Levels and Safe Drinking Water Act Maximum Contaminant Levels.

• PCE Carriage Cleaners, Bellevue, Nebraska: The PCE Carriage Cleaners site was home to a dry cleaner business that resulted in the release of tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene at the site. This contamination caused overlying commercial and residential properties to have contaminated indoor air due to vapor intrusion. Superfund’s removal program has already installed 21 vapor mitigation systems at mixed commercial and residential buildings to address the contaminated indoor air.

“[The] EPA remains committed to ensuring communities living near the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination get the health and environmental protections they deserve,” says EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Adding the Hattiesburg and Bellevue locations to our National Priorities List will advance environmental justice and help address longstanding pollution that has impacted these communities for far too long.”

The addition of Hercules Inc. in Hattiesburg and PCE Carriage Cleaners will prioritize cleanup for these contaminated sites and is important for the health, safety and revitalization of communities in these areas.

Thousands of contaminated sites, from landfills to 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 accelerates EPA’s work to clean up this pollution with a $3.5 billion investment in the Superfund Remedial Program.

The law also reinstates the Superfund chemical excise taxes, making it a large investment to address legacy pollution. This investment strengthens EPA’s ability to tackle threats to human health and the environment. The EPA has already set actions in motion to clear the backlog of the 49 contaminated sites, which had been awaiting funding to start remedial action.

In addition to funding remediation projects, this investment is enabling the EPA to dedicate more of its Congressionally appropriated funds and funds available from Superfund tax revenues for all other Superfund remedial activities, including remedial investigations, feasibility studies, remedial designs and community involvement activities.

The program also advances President Biden’s Justice40 initiative, which aims to ensure that federal agencies deliver at least 40 percent of benefits from certain investments to underserved communities.

Superfund cleanups provide health and economic benefits to communities. The program is credited for significant reductions in birth defects and blood-lead levels among children living near sites. Research has shown residential property values increase up to 24 percent within three miles of sites after cleanup.