PHILADELPHIA— Today, Feb. 27, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a third and final wave of more than $1 billion for cleanup projects at more than 100 Superfund sites across the country as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. This funding is made possible by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will launch new cleanup projects at 25 Superfund sites, including four in Pennsylvania.
“After three rounds of investments, EPA is delivering on President Biden’s full promise to invest in cleaning up America’s most contaminated Superfund sites,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. “This final round of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding has made it possible for EPA to initiate clean ups at every single Superfund site where construction work is ready to begin. This is an incredible milestone in our efforts to clean up and protect communities, deliver local jobs, enhance economic activity, and improve people’s lives for years to come.”
“Today’s funding announcement continues EPA’s historic investment in the remediation of our nation’s most contaminated sites,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “As a result, the legacy pollution at five Superfund sites in the mid-Atlantic will be cleaned up, providing public health protection to several communities in Delaware and Pennsylvania.”
“When we clean up toxins and waste in Pennsylvania communities, we’re investing not only in their health and safety, but their economic security and potential,” said U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA). “By cleaning up these Superfund sites, the infrastructure law is delivering cleaner air and water to Pennsylvania families and economic opportunity and revitalization throughout the Commonwealth.”
“Accelerating these cleanups will improve the environment in Pennsylvania and restore economic vitality to the communities where these sites are located,” said Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Interim Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley. “The infusion of resources from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will further eliminate the legacy pollution at these sites and make these communities whole, resulting in healthier communities and a better Pennsylvania.”
Thousands of contaminated sites exist nationally due to hazardous waste being dumped, left out in the open, or otherwise improperly managed. These sites can include toxic chemicals from manufacturing facilities, processing plants, landfills and mining, and can harm the health and well-being of local communities in urban and rural areas.
Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding announced today, four cleanup projects in Pennsylvania will start.
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At the Jackson Ceramix, Inc. site in Jefferson County, funds will go towards the excavation and disposal of soil and sediment contaminated with lead. The contamination is from past industrial and manufacturing activities at the site. After the excavation, there will be a site-wide wetland restoration.
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At the Salford Quarry site in Montgomery County, EPA will be working to contain buried waste that has historically impacted groundwater using a perimeter wall below the surface and an impermeable cap.
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At the Valmont TCE site in Luzerne County, funds will be used for thermal remediation to remove contamination from below the ground surface using heat. The chemicals will be collected as vapors and then destroyed.
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At the Baghurst Drive site in Montgomery County, funding will be used to conduct remediation of contaminated groundwater. The cleanup technology will heat up the soil and bedrock to a temperature that will volatilize and capture contaminants. This will remove the source of contamination to groundwater and be the first step in restoring groundwater to drinking water conditions.
In addition to the new cleanups announced, today’s investment supports continued construction at a number of Superfund sites across Pennsylvania.
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At the Crossley Farm Superfund site in Berks County, funds are enhancing groundwater treatment. The funding involves pumping contaminated groundwater to a treatment plant on the site, and improvements to the current plant. The water that will be treated is from a highly contaminated area known as the source area.
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At the North Penn Area 6 site in Montgomery County, initial BIL funding was used to complete excavation and disposal of contaminated soil, place new clean backfill, and restore the JW Rex property in just over 1 year. The continued clean-up work at the JW Rex property will help to accelerate the total remediation efforts at the North Penn Area 6 site.
Today’s investment is the final wave of funding from the $3.5 billion allocated for Superfund cleanup work in the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. So far, EPA has deployed more than $2 billion for cleanup activities at more than 150 Superfund National Priorities List sites. Thanks to President Biden’s commitment to addressing legacy pollution and improving public health, EPA has been able to provide as much funding for cleanup work in the past two years as it did in the previous five years while delivering on President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set a goal to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
EPA is committed to continuing to carry out this work advancing environmental justice and incorporating equity considerations into all aspects of the Superfund cleanup process. More than one in four Black and Hispanic Americans live within three miles of a Superfund site. These investments are restoring the health and economic vitality of communities that have been exposed to pervasive legacy pollution. Thus far, nearly 80% of the funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has gone to sites in communities with potential environmental justice concerns. Out of the 25 sites to receive funding for new cleanup projects, more than 75% are in communities with potential environmental justice concerns based on data from EJSCREEN.
The historic investment made by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law strengthens every part of the Superfund program, making a dramatic difference in EPA’s ability to tackle threats to human health and the environment. In addition to funding cleanup construction work, the investment is enabling EPA to increase funding for and accelerate essential work needed to prepare sites for construction and to ensure communities are meaningfully involved in the cleanup process. In 2023, EPA continued to fund Superfund pre-construction activities such as remedial investigations, feasibility studies, remedial designs, and community involvement at double pre-Bipartisan Infrastructure Law levels.
In 1980, Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERLCA), known as Superfund. The law gave EPA the authority and funds to hold polluters accountable for cleaning up the most contaminated sites across the country. When no viable responsible party is found or cannot afford the cleanup, EPA steps in to address risks to human health and the environment using funds appropriated by Congress, like the funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
To see a list of the 25 sites to receive funding for new cleanup projects, visit EPA’s Superfund webpage.
To see highlights from the first two years of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding at Superfund sites, visit EPA’s Cleaning Up Superfund Sites: Highlights of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding website.