Categories
Homepage Superfund News Water News

Toxics in Willamette River killing young salmon, study says

The study suggests that as the Portland Harbor Superfund site is cleaned-up, salmon recovery efforts in the Willamette will get a major boost. Read more here

Categories
Homepage Superfund News

EPA’s Wheeler Recused From 45 Superfund Sites Given Past Work

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s history of lobbying for International Paper Co. and Xcel Energy Inc., among other companies, means he is recused from working on 45 Superfund sites, according to new agency data. Read more here.

Categories
Superfund News

EPA removes a portion of Libby from the federal Superfund site

A portion of Libby’s asbestos cleanup has been completed, with the EPA removing that area from the list of federal Superfund sites. Read more here.

Categories
Homepage Superfund News

Virginia, EPA to recoup nearly $64 million for Portsmouth Superfund site

After years of wrangling over who should pay to clean up a Superfund site on the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River, a proposed settlement would reimburse Virginia and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency nearly $64 million. Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring calls the consent decree a “significant agreement that will ensure accountability and sustained environmental improvements along an important Hampton Roads waterway.”
The decree must still undergo a 30-day public comment period, however, and be approved by the court. Read more.

Categories
Homepage Superfund News

Community Leaders Travel to D.C. to Demand EPA Action at their Superfund Sites

Leaders from fence line communities met with EPA representatives Tuesday, March 5th at EPA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. to push for action at their Superfund sites.
“We need action in our communities where people are sick and dying because of exposures to chemicals in the environment,” was the resounding cry for help from community leaders.
The group met with Steven D. Cook, Deputy Assistance Administrator for the Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM), Peter C. Wright, Assistant Administrator of OLEM, James E. Woolford with the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) and other EPA staff. The meeting was organized by the Center for Health, Environment & Justice as part of a commitment from EPA to meet quarterly with communities at risk from Superfund sites.
Relocation of families living among some of the most toxic chemicals was an overarching issue. How can communities trigger relocation as the policy is unclear? Leaders called for a committee or task force to find ways to clarify this section of the law.
Medical monitoring of victims at Superfund sites was another key issue that the law requires but the agency ignores. Testing only children up to six years of age is inadequate. Children live within many of these communities their entire lives. Fifteen-year-old adolescents need testing as well to determine their body burden from living in a poisoned community.
Technical Assistance Grants were also discussed as an overarching issue to simplify the program so that average lay people can complete the process and application rather than hiring a grant writer when families can barely afford food and housing due to their medical bills and economic status.
Contacts Community Leaders attended meeting.
Lois Gibbs, People’s Action/Center for Health, Environment & Justice
Charles Powell, PANIC, Birmingham, Alabama – 35th Street Superfund Site
Jackie Young, Texas Health & Environment Alliance, Houston, Texas – San Jacinto Waste Pits, Superfund Site
Olinka Green, Highland Hills Community Action Committee, Dallas, Texas – Lane Plating Works, Inc, Superfund Site
Akeeshea Daniels, East Chicago, Indiana – USS Lead Superfund Site
Brandon Richardson, Minden, West Virginia – Shafer Chemical Superfund Site
 

Categories
Homepage Superfund News

EPA Should Improve the Reliability of Data on National Priorities List Sites Affecting Indian Tribes

EPA’s National Priorities List sites are some of the most contaminated places in the country. They may pose unique challenges for Indian tribes. For example, toxic substances in 2 New York rivers pose a threat to one tribe’s health and its subsistence lifestyle, which includes fishing.

EPA has a policy to consult with tribes if its efforts to deal with these sites may affect them. In some cases, consultation is a legal mandate. However, we found the databases EPA uses to track sites and tribal consultations are sometimes inaccurate.

We made 4 recommendations, including that EPA improve its data and clarify its guidance on consultations.

Categories
Superfund News

GE’s cynical strategy won’t work in Berkshires

We support the people of our county who desire to live, once and for all, free of PCBs. For way too long, Berkshire residents have had to endure the consequences of GE’s half century of willfully dumping hundreds of thousands of pounds of PCBs into the Housatonic River, and of spreading large amounts of PCB-contaminated soil all around the county.  Read More.

Categories
Homepage Superfund News

Superfund adviser kept in touch with bank after ban

Senior Superfund advisor Albert Kelly was banned from the banking industry but continued to correspond with them while he was overseeing the Superfund program.
Read more.

Categories
Homepage Superfund News

Climate change could devastate Superfund cleanup

If a serious storm occurs in Butte or Anaconda the consequences could be dire for the Superfund cleanup.
Read More.

Categories
Homepage Superfund News

EPA places Silverton’s Superfund site on fast-track pilot program

The Superfund site made up of mine sites around Silverton contaminating the Animas River has been chosen to be part of a new pilot study that aims to speed up the Environmental Protection Agency’s cleanup process.
Read More.