The General Motors Central Foundry Division Superfund site in Massena, N.Y., is one of the cleanup projects to receive U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funding.
The approximately $1 billion funding, the second wave from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will go toward 22 new projects and 100 ongoing cleanups, according to a Feb. 10 news release.
“Thanks to President Biden’s historic investments in America, we are moving faster than ever before to progress clean up at contaminated sites – from manufacturing facilities to landfills – in communities across the country,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in the release. “But our work is not yet finished – we’re continuing to build on this momentum to ensure that communities living near many of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination finally get the investments and protections they deserve.”
The General Motors site includes a former aluminum die-casting plant that operated from 1959 to 2009, during which time the company dumped industrial waste on the site, the release said. The dumping also released polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the local groundwater, soil and river sediment. EPA added the General Motors to its Superfund National Priorities List in 1984.
Money spent at the General Motors site is expected to support the next phase of ongoing cleanup, including the removal of about 4,200 cubic yards of PCB-contaminated soil and 2,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments, according to the release.
"This work will help to protect the environment, public health and ensure that this portion of the site is properly cleaned and safe to use," the news release said.
The General Motors, in addition to 100 other ongoing cleanups, is being funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that Biden signed in November 2021, the release reported.
Of the 22 sites to receive funding in the second wave, 60% are in communities with potential environmental justice concerns, according to the release. The EPA is following the Biden administration's Justice40 Initiative, which orders that historic and ongoing contamination impacts on affected communities be fully addressed.
