EPA Deleted All or Part of 27 Superfund Sites from National Priorities List in FY 2019

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, Oct. 29 -- The Environmental Protection Agency issued the following news release:

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- Provides Lasting Benefit to Communities by Deleting the Highest Number in 18 Years

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Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 the agency deleted all or part of 27 sites - including the South Minneapolis Residential Soil Contamination site in Minneapolis, and the New Brighton/Arden Hills/TCAAP site in New Brighton, Minn. - from Superfund's National Priorities List, the largest number of deletions in a single year since FY 2001.

This represents the third year in a row that EPA has significantly increased the number of sites deleted from the NPL, helping communities move forward in reusing and redeveloping the land by making it clear that cleanup is complete.

EPA deletes sites or parts of sites from the NPL when no further cleanup is required to protect human health or the environment. Years, and sometimes decades, of complex investigation and cleanup work has gone into getting these sites to where they are today. This important milestone indicates to communities that cleanup is complete and that sites are protective of human health and the environment.

"Our renewed focus on the Superfund program is reaching directly into the heart of communities that are looking to EPA for leadership and action," said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. "I am proud of the work we have done to deliver on the Trump Administration's commitment to protect the people we serve and support community revitalization by allowing land to be rediscovered and repurposed for productive use."

"EPA continues to demonstrate its commitment to delist, or partially delist Superfund sites so they can be restored to productive use," said EPA Regional Administrator Cathy Stepp. "Promoting redevelopment is part of EPA's core mission and helps spur the local economy and create jobs in communities near Superfund sites."

The South Minneapolis Residential Soil Contamination site is in the area surrounding Hiawatha Avenue and 28th Street. The site is near a former manufacturing plant where arsenic-based pesticides were made. Experts believe that during plant operations, the powder-like arsenic trioxide was blown into the surrounding neighborhoods and contaminated the soil. Arsenic contamination is no longer a threat to human health or the environment at the properties that have been cleaned up.

The New Brighton/Arden Hills/TCAAP site consists of the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP) and parts of surrounding communities affected by contaminants from the plant. The U.S. Army has completed the cleanup of about 2,400 acres of contaminated soil. The Army continues to clean up a plume of contaminated groundwater. From 1941-1981, the Army dumped waste from the plant at 14 locations contaminating soil, sediment and groundwater.

While EPA encourages site reuse throughout the cleanup process, deletions from the NPL can help revitalize communities and promote economic growth by signaling to potential developers and financial institutions that cleanup is complete. Over the past several years, the agency has focused on streamlining the deletion process and increasing the number of opportunities to demonstrate to communities that cleanup is complete.

For example, in FY 2017 EPA doubled the number of full and partial sites deleted over the previous fiscal year with a total of six sites and then significantly increased the total number of deletions to 22 in FY 2018 and 27 in FY 2019.

The agency's FY 2019 deletions include 12 full sites and parts of 15 more sites.

Additional information about EPA's NPL deletions can be viewed at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/deleted-national-priorities-list-npl-sites-state

The Superfund Task Force Accomplishments can be viewed at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-task-force-recommendations-and-accomplishments

To search for information about these and other NPL sites, please visit https://www.epa.gov/superfund/search-superfund-sites-where-you-live