News Releases from Region 01

EPA begins reviews of three Rhode Island Superfund site cleanups this year

Boston – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to conduct comprehensive reviews of site cleanups at three National Priorities List (NPL) Superfund sites, including a Federal Facility, in Rhode Island by performing required Five-Year Reviews of sites.

"It is a priority for EPA to make progress cleaning up NPL Superfund sites across the region," said EPA New England Acting Regional Administrator Deb Szaro. "Once a site or part of a site is cleaned up, it is important for EPA to conduct regular reviews of the cleanup to ensure that it remains protective of human health and the environment."

"Rhode Islanders benefit when formerly unsafe areas are cleaned up and put to productive use," said Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) Director Janet Coit. "We see this at repurposed Superfund sites like the Picillo Farm in Coventry and the Rose Hill Landfill in South Kingstown where wind and solar farms now occupy the landscape. These successes result from regulatory vigilance, and DEM appreciates EPA's partnership in reviewing the Rhode Island site cleanups on the priority list."

The Superfund program, a federal program established by Congress in 1980, investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country and endeavors to facilitate activities to return them to productive use.

Under the Trump Administration, the Superfund program has reemerged as a priority to fulfill EPA's core mission of protecting human health and the environment.

EPA is actively involved in Superfund studies and cleanups at 13 sites in Rhode Island including Federal Facilities. There are many phases of the Superfund cleanup process including considering future use and redevelopment at sites and conducting post cleanup monitoring of sites. EPA must ensure remedies are protective of public health and the environment and any redevelopment will uphold the protectiveness into the future.

The NPL Superfund sites and Federal Facilities where EPA will begin work on Five-Year Reviews in 2019 are listed below. Please note, the web links listed below provide detailed information on site status and past assessment and cleanup activity. Once the Five-Year Review is complete, a report of its findings will be posted to these websites. One of the Five-Year Reviews will be completed in 2019, but others noted below will not be completed until Fiscal Year 2020.

The web link also provides contact information for the EPA project manager and community involvement coordinator at each site. Community members and local officials are invited to contact EPA with any comments or concerns about a Superfund site.

Five-Year Reviews beginning in 2019

Superfund

Landfill and Resource Recovery Inc., North Smithfield, R.I.
www.epa.gov/superfund/lrr

Rose Hill Regional Landfill, South Kingstown, R.I. (Five-Year Review to be completed in Fiscal Year 2020)
www.epa.gov/superfund/rosehill

Federal Facility

Newport Naval Education & Training Center, Newport, R.I. (Five-Year Review to be completed in Fiscal Year 2020)
www.epa.gov/superfund/netc