The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will use $1 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law towards 49 previously unfunded Superfund sites on the National Priorities List and accelerate the cleanup at dozens of sites contaminated by hazardous waste nationwide.
In a Dec. 20 EPA press release, Administrator Michael Regan said approximately 60% of the sites set to receive funding are located in historically underserved communities.
“This work is just the beginning; with more than 1 in 4 Black and Hispanic Americans living within 3 miles of a Superfund site, EPA is working to serve people that have been left behind,” Regan said in the release. “Communities living near many of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination will finally get the protections they deserve.”
Among the recipients is the Pesticides Warehouse III Superfund Site in Manatí, Puerto Rico, where funds will be allotted to help remediate soil and monitor water quality, the release said.
The EPA will work to address the most contaminated areas at the site by digging up soil and heating it so contaminants can be pulled out and captured before being disposed of in a landfill, the release said. Moving forward, the EPA will also maintain and monitor existing water treatment systems that provide service to industries near the site, ensuring contamination does not exceed protective levels.
The funding is part of $3.5 billion the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has assigned to help clean up polluted Superfund sites across the United States, the release said. Sites are located in 24 states and U.S. territories, with some waiting more than four years for funding.
