(CHICAGO - March 3, 2010) E.P.A. has added the Chemetco site, a closed copper smelter in Hartford, Ill., and the Lake Calumet Cluster location in Chicago, to the Superfund National Priorities List. Superfund is the federal plan that investigates and cleans up the most complex and uncontrolled hazardous waste sites in the U.S.
The Chemetco location is on Illinois Route three in Madison County, about 2 miles south of Hartford. It was a secondary copper smelter from 1969 to 2001 before filing Chapter seven bankruptcy. In excess of 500,000 cubic yards of processing slag, sludge and other hazardous materials were left on portions of the 41-acre site. Elevated levels of the heavy metals copper, cadmium, lead and zinc have been found in adjacent wetlands and in the sediment of nearby Long Lake. Chemetco was suggested for addition to the NPL in September 2009. Now that the location is on the list, Chemetco is eligible for further analysis and development of cleanup options by E.P.A. in partnership with Illinois EPA.
The 87-acre Lake Calumet Cluster site, on Chicago's southeast side, is composed of 4 separate parcels. The Cluster location is bounded by the Land and Lakes Landfill to the west, 122nd Street to the south, the Norfolk Southern Railroad right-of-way and Indian Ridge Marsh to the east, and the Paxton I & II Landfills to the north. The location was originally a wetland that was used for disposal of steel mill slag and industrial, chemical and municipal waste from the 1940s to 1970s. Environmental concerns include contaminated soil and contaminated surface water runoff from the location into the adjacent wetland areas. These wetlands are used by at least 14 federal or state endangered or threatened species. From 1983 to 1985, and in 1990, E.P.A. performed limited-scope cleanups including drum removals. The Cluster location was suggested for addition to the NPL in September 2005. In 2007 - 2008, Illinois E.P.A. began construction of a landfill cap. Now that the Cluster location is on the NPL, Illinois E.P.A. can use federal money to complete the cap and investigate the full extent of contaminated groundwater at the site.
In E.P.A. Region 5, the Gratiot Co. Golf Course, a contaminated soil and fly ash location in Saint Louis, Mich., was also named to the Superfund list today. Another Michigan site, the PCB-contaminated Saint Clair Shores Drain location in Macomb County, near Detroit, was suggested for addition to the NPL. Nationally, ten new sites were added to the NPL and 8 sites were suggested for addition to the list. Under the NPL process, sites are 1st suggested and public comments considered before a determination is made to formally add a location to the list.
To date, there have been 1,620 sites on the NPL. Of these, 341 have been deleted resulting in 1,279 sites currently on the NPL (including the ten new sites added today). With the suggestion of 8 new sites, there are 61 suggested sites awaiting final agency action: 56 in the general Superfund section and 5 in the federal facilities section. Currently, there are a total of 1,340 final and suggested sites.
Links to the Federal Register notice, information on submitting comments, background on the NPL process and summaries of the sites newly added or suggested are at http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm.
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