Date: April 22, 2009
Source: Environmental Protection Agency
Environment Reporter
Volume: 40 Number: 16
April 17, 2009
EPA Announces Release of $600 Million In Stimulus Funds for Superfund Cleanups
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson announced April 15 the release of $600 million in economic stimulus funds for cleanup of 50 superfund sites nationwide.
Jackson said the funds, authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. No. 111-5), will jump-start local economies by creating jobs in communities where sites are located, as they accelerate cleanup at some sites and fund new work at others.
Jackson made the announcement at a news conference at the New Bedford (Mass.) Harbor Superfund Site, accompanied by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D), Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) participated by telephone in the news conference.
The New Bedford site will receive $25 million to $35 million, which will "provide a tremendous boost to the cleanup … that could more than triple the amount of PCB-contaminated sediment removed compared to recent years," Jackson said. "The progress anticipated this year will significantly expedite the timetable to return a clean harbor back to the community."
Money Goes to New Jersey.
Three New Jersey superfund sites will each get about $25 million: the Roebling Steel Site in Florence, the Vineland Site in Vineland, and the Welsbach Co. and General Gas Mantle Co. Site in Camden.
At the Roebling site, about 242,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments will be removed from the Back Channel Delaware River and Crafts Creek, according to EPA Region 2. At the Vineland site, sediment contaminated with arsenic will be removed from stretches of the Blackwater Branch of the Maurice River and from Union Lake, the state's second largest lake.
At the Camden site, the money will be used to clean up "radiologically contaminated soils" around the properties of two former manufacturers of gas mantles that used thorium and radium in their processing.
Five other New Jersey also sites will receive stimulus funding.
New Jersey has more superfund sites than any other state. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said New Jersey will receive more than $100 million in stimulus funds for superfund cleanups.
Utah Mining Site Gets $25 Million.
The Eureka Mills site in Juab County, Utah, will receive $25 million, according to EPA Region 8. "EPA will use the money to clean up 160 properties at the Eureka Mills site contaminated with waste from historic mining activities," the agency said.
Three large mines will be stabilized and capped, sediment ponds will be constructed, and other drainage-control features will be put in place to prevent metals-contaminated rain and snowmelt from spreading into clean areas, EPA said.
Over $10 Million for Kansas County.
Between $10 million and $25 million will go to the Cherokee County Superfund Site in southeast Kansas, which covers about 115 square miles where lead and zinc mining left behind heavy metal contamination from uncontrolled mining waste piles, according to Chris Whitley, spokesman for EPA Region 7.
"These additional funds will be used to remove lead-contaminated residential soil at more than 60 acres in Badger and Lawton (Kan.) and to continue removal work on 380 acres in Baxter Springs and Treece," EPA said.
Although specific amounts are designated for some sites, exact amounts have yet to be determined for many sites where work has not been put out for contractors' bids, according to Dave Bary, EPA Region 6 spokesman.
Texas, New York Sites on List.
The Garland Creosoting Superfund Site in Longview, Texas, will receive $5 million to $10 million to contain and treat toxic chemical seepage near Sabine River and other nearby waterways. Bary said removal work was accomplished in 1999 at the site after the contamination first came to EPA's attention, but an on-site water treatment system and, eventually, institutional controls will be put in place, according to Bary.
Likewise, between $5 million and $10 million in new funding will be used to accelerate hazardous waste cleanup at the Old Roosevelt Field Superfund Site in Garden City, New York.
Receipt of between $10 million and $25 million for Iron Mountain Mine near Redding, Calif., will accelerate the hazardous waste cleanup already under way there--cutting in half the time needed to dredge, treat, and dispose of sediment in the Spring Creek Arm of the Keswick Reservoir, according to EPA Region 10.
In less than a month, the community will see hundreds of additional green jobs and a greatly accelerated cleanup due to the infusion of Recovery Act funding, said Laura Yoshii, EPA's acting regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest.
Five sites in EPA Region 1 are receiving stimulus funds, 10 in Region 2, four in Region 3, seven in Region 4, four in Region 5, three in Region 6, four in Region 7, seven in Region 8, and three each in Regions 9 and 10.
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