EPA to review cleanups at 14 New England Superfund sites

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced plans to conduct comprehensive reviews of completed cleanup work at 14 National Priority List (NPL) Superfund sites, including three federal facilities, in New England this year.

The sites, in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, will undergo a legally required five-year review to ensure that previous remediation efforts at the sites continue to protect public health and the environment.

"Ensuring completed Superfund site cleanup work remains protective of human health and the environment is a priority for EPA," says EPA New England Acting Regional Administrator Deb Szaro. "By completing reviews of the cleanups every five years, EPA fulfills its duty to remain vigilant so that these communities continue to be protected."

A number of five-year reviews of Superfund sites in New England will be completed in 2022:

• Auburn Road Landfill, Londonderry, New Hampshire
  www.epa.gov/superfund/auburnroad; 
• Beede Waste Oil, Plaistow, New Hampshire
  www.epa.gov/superfund/beede; 
• Dover Municipal Landfill, Dover, New Hampshire
  www.epa.gov/superfund/dover; 
• Gallup's Quarry, Plainfield, Connecticut
  www.epa.gov/superfund/gallup; 
• Kellogg-Deering Well Field, Norwalk, Connecticut
  www.epa.gov/superfund/kellogg; 
• O'Connor Co., Augusta, Maine
  www.epa.gov/superfund/oconnor; 
• Peterson/Puritan, Inc., Lincoln/Cumberland, Rhode Island
  www.epa.gov/superfund/peterson; 
• Union Chemical Co., Inc., South Hope, Maine
  www.epa.gov/superfund/union; and
• Winthrop Landfill, Winthrop, Maine
  www.epa.gov/superfund/winthrop.

Three federal facilities have been targeted for Superfund cleanup:

• Hanscom Field/Hanscom Air Force Base, Bedford, Massachusetts
  www.epa.gov/superfund/hanscom; 
• Natick Laboratory Army Research, Development and Engineering Center, Natick, Massachusetts
  www.epa.gov/superfund/naticklab; and
• Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
  www.epa.gov/superfund/portsmouth.

Two five-year reviews of Superfund sites in New England will start in 2022 and be completed in 2023:

• Fletcher's Paint Works & Storage, Milford, New Hampshire
  www.epa.gov/superfund/fletcher; and
• Shpack Landfill, Norton/Attleboro, Massachusetts
  www.epa.gov/superfund/shpack. 

Throughout the process of designing and constructing a cleanup at a hazardous waste site, EPA says its primary goal is to make sure the remedy will be protective of public health and the environment. At many sites, where the remedy has been constructed, EPA continues to ensure it remains protective by requiring reviews of cleanups every five years.

It is important for EPA to regularly check on these sites to ensure the remedy is working properly. These reviews identify issues (if any) that may affect the protectiveness of the completed remedy and, if necessary, recommend action(s) necessary to address them.

There are many phases of the Superfund cleanup process, including considering future use and redevelopment at sites and conducting post-cleanup monitoring of sites. EPA says it must ensure the remedy is protective of public health and the environment and any redevelopment will uphold the protectiveness of the remedy into the future.