March 29, 2023

DALLAS, TEXAS – (March twenty ninth, 2023)– The U.S. Environmental Safety Company is proposing so as to add the Fansteel Metals Superfund website to the Nationwide Priorities Record. The NPL is a roster of the nation’s most contaminated websites that threaten human well being or the surroundings. By including this website to the NPL, the EPA can prioritize funding for cleanup and obligatory enforcement motion. 

“After we add a website to the Nationwide Priorities Record, EPA is committing to completely addressing contamination on-site and making certain surrounding communities obtain the safety and help they deserve,” mentioned EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Because of President Biden’s investments in America, EPA is ensuring advanced hazardous waste websites get the long-term federal monetary help and cleanup help they should safeguard essential sources households depend on, like clear consuming water.”

“The EPA stays dedicated to making sure the security and well being of residents who dwell close to these Superfund websites,” mentioned Regional Administrator Dr. Earthea Nance. “By including the Fansteel Metals website to the NPL, we’re implementing environmental justice and taking motion to take away a risk that impacts the surroundings and public well being. I want to thank the Biden Administration and ODEQ for working with us on making certain the well being of Muskogee residents stays a prime precedence.”

“DEQ is happy that EPA is proposing the Fansteel website for itemizing on the NPL,” mentioned Oklahoma DEQ Govt Director Scott Thompson. “Placement on the NPL will assist successfully deal with environmental points on the website, create a path ahead for website administration and cleanup, and shield well being and the surroundings,” Thompson added. 

The Fansteel Metals website is positioned in Muskogee, Oklahoma and encompasses 105 acres alongside the Arkansas River, this space can be inside Cherokee Nation land. The positioning was operational between the years of 1956 to 1989 and produced metals from uranium ore. The residue from these operations had been disposed of in acidic ponds. Through the years, the groundwater close to the ability turned contaminated with metallic residue and the funding for the water therapy is predicted to be exhausted subsequent 12 months. As soon as the funds stop, the contaminated water would start to leak into the Arkansas River effecting the surroundings and public well being.

In response to the rapid risk to public well being and the surroundings, the EPA performed an emergency response motion in August 2018 by eradicating 1000’s of lab chemical compounds and over 3,000 gallons ammonium hydroxide on the website. As a result of hazardous nature of this website, the EPA is proposing so as to add this website to Superfund’s NPL. Along with the FanSteel website, the EPA is including one website to the NPL whereas proposing so as to add three extra websites. 

The EPA is including the next website to the Nationwide Priorities Record:

• East Basin Street Groundwater website in New Citadel, Delaware.

The EPA is proposing so as to add the next websites to the Nationwide Priorities Record:

• Federated Metals Corp Whiting in Hammond, Indiana.
• Capitol Lakes in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• Fansteel Metals/FMRI in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
• Lukachukai Mountains Mining District in Cove, Navajo Nation, Arizona.

The websites included on this announcement exhibit the EPA’s dedication to precedence environmental points just like the long-term safety of consuming water, lowering childhood lead publicity, remediating contamination from per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, addressing the legacy of uranium contamination within the Navajo Nation, and advancing environmental justice. All of the websites being added or proposed to be added to the Nationwide Priorities Record are in communities with potential environmental justice issues based mostly on information from EJSCREEN.

1000’s of contaminated websites, from landfills, to processing vegetation, to manufacturing amenities, exist nationally as a consequence of hazardous waste being dumped, not noted within the open, or in any other case improperly managed. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation accelerates the EPA’s work to scrub up this air pollution with a $3.5 billion funding within the Superfund Remedial Program. The regulation additionally reinstates the Superfund chemical excise taxes, making it one of many largest investments in American historical past to handle legacy air pollution. This historic funding strengthens the EPA’s skill to sort out threats to human well being and the surroundings from Superfund Nationwide Priorities Record websites.

The Superfund program is credited for dealing with probably the most hazardous websites in our nation and for offering important well being enhancements amongst residents who dwell in shut proximity to those websites. For details about Superfund and the NPL, please go to the EPA’s Superfund webpage. For Federal Register notices and supporting paperwork for the NPL and proposed websites, please go to: New Proposed and New Superfund Nationwide Priorities Record Websites.

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