A site near Old Highway 275 and North 288th Street, near Valley is being added to the Superfund National Priorities List, according to a press release issued today by the EPA.
The Environmental Protection Agency is adding a total of seven sites, and proposing to add four hazardous waste sites, to the NPL, the release states.
A 2.5-mile groundwater plume at the northwest city limits of Valley is present along West Reichmuth Road, and consists of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs; and other contaminants. Trichloroethane, or TCE, is the VOC representing the majority of the contamination.
Groundwater sampling at another site led to the discovery of the plume in 2000. The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality performed an initial site assessment and requested EPA involvement in 2004, the release states.
Other sites added to the NPL today include:
- The Battery Recycling Company in Bo Cambalache, Puerto Rico
- Former Custom Cleaners in Memphis, Tenn.
- Highway 18 Ground Water in Kermit, Texas
- Microfab Inc. in Amesbury, Mass.
- Post and Lumber Preserving Co. Inc. in Quincy, Fla.
- Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics in Village of Hoosick Falls, N.Y.
The following sites are being proposed for addition to the NPL:
- Newark South Ground Water Plume in Newark, Del.
- American Creosote DeRidder in DeRidder, La.
- Mississippi Phosphate Corporation in Pascagoula, Miss.
- Eagle Industries in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Between 2004 and 2006, EPA performed site work consisting of groundwater, soil, soil gas, and indoor air sampling. EPA installed whole-house carbon filtration systems at locations with private wells impacted by TCE. In 2015, EPA became involved at the site again, after sampling in 2012 found the Pines public water supply well to be impacted by TCE. After NDEQ worked to reduce the level of TCE in the well, the Pines community was connected to the city of Valley’s public water supply. EPA attempted to find the source area of that contamination; however, despite extensive sampling, no source area was found.
Superfund, which Congress established in 1980, investigates and cleans up the nation’s most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites and converts them into community resources. The Superfund program is a cornerstone of the work that EPA performs for citizens and communities across the country.
The Superfund law directs EPA to update the NPL annually. Only sites added to the NPL are eligible to receive federal funding for long-term permanent cleanup.
EPA adds sites to the NPL when mismanagement of contamination threatens human health and the environment. EPA typically initiates Superfund involvement at a site because states, tribes or citizens ask for the Agency’s help. The Agency may also find contamination during its own investigations.
