Additional Superfund projects identified for funding

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a third and final wave of more than $1 billion in funding for cleanup projects at more than 100 Superfund sites in different parts of the country.

“This funding is made possible by the president’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will launch new cleanup projects at 25 Superfund sites and continue other cleanups at over 85 Superfund sites,” the EPA says.

Superfund sites stem from hazardous material or waste handling activities and can include manufacturing facilities, processing plants, landfills and mining sites. Demolition of existing buildings can be one aspect of a Superfund cleanup, while the abatement and remediation of soils and other materials is in common with nearly all projects.

Previously, the EPA deployed more than $2 billion for cleanup activities at more than 150 Superfund sites.

“This final round of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding has made it possible for the EPA to initiate cleanups at every single Superfund site where construction work is ready to begin,” EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe says.

Sites to be addressed in the newly announced funding round include a former ASARCO zinc smelting and zinc oxide production facility in Taylor Springs, Illinois, with the most recent EPA report on the site showing buildings still in place as of February 2022.

Another ASARCO site was once a primary metals smelting facility in East Helena, Montana, where lead, zinc and other metals can be found at the company’s former facility, the EPA says.

A third mining and smelting site to be addressed is the Iron King Mine/Humboldt Smelter near Dewey-Humboldt, Arizona, which the agency says still contains smelting waste and residues.

In Puerto Rico, a 6-acre site where Scorpio Recycling Inc. operates includes soil contamination with acids, lead and other metals.

From 1972 to 1989, the company operating at the site was known as Astur Metals. “During the facility's early operation, crushing batteries to recover the lead for recycling was a common practice; this practice resulted in sulfuric acid spills onto the ground,” the EPA says.

A complete list of the 25 sites receiving cleanup funding can be found here.