The second $1 billion round of funding for the cleanup drive at 22 Superfund sites was recently announced by the Environment Protection Agency, following the first wave in December 2021. The funding is part of the $3.5 billion earmarked in the Bipartisan Law for Superfund cleanup. Sites in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Virginia, and Vermont are among those that will get a portion of the $1 billion.
The Hill reported:
On a call with reporters Friday, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) highlighted one of the sites, the Westside Lead Superfund site in Atlanta, which was added to the EPA’s National Priorities List in 2022. The site includes over 2,000 homes in the city’s English Avenue and Vine City neighborhoods. The elevated lead levels were first detected in the area in 2018, likely remnants of the foundries that once dotted the area.
“We’ve known for decades the terrible damage that lead contamination does to communities, particularly children, and so I’m glad that we are at this moment,” Warnock said. “This cleanup will include investigating the extent of contamination, excavating and properly disposing of contaminated soil and backfilling and restoring the property. This is a process that typically takes years to advance.”
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) also praised the inclusion of the Southern Solvents Inc. Superfund site in the North Tampa area, which she noted has been under EPA scrutiny for nearly a quarter century.
