News Releases from Region 05
EPA Deleted All or Part of 27 Superfund Sites -- including Tomah Armory Superfund site in Wisconsin – from the National Priorities List in FY2019
Provides Lasting Benefit to Communities by Deleting the Highest Number in 18 Years
For Immediate Release No. 19-OPA097
TOMAH, Wis. (October 29, 2019) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 the agency deleted all or part of 27 sites -- including the Tomah Armory site in Tomah,Wis. – from Superfund’s National Priorities List, the largest number of deletions in a single year since FY 2001.
This represents the third year in a row that EPA has significantly increased the number of sites deleted from the NPL, helping communities move forward in reusing and redeveloping the land by making it clear that cleanup is complete.
EPA deletes sites or parts of sites from the NPL when no further cleanup is required to protect human health or the environment. Years, and sometimes decades, of complex investigation and cleanup work has gone into getting these sites to where they are today. This important milestone indicates to communities that cleanup is complete and that sites are protective of human health and the environment.
“Our renewed focus on the Superfund program is reaching directly into the heart of communities that are looking to EPA for leadership and action,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “I am proud of the work we have done to deliver on the Trump Administration’s commitment to protect the people we serve and support community revitalization by allowing land to be rediscovered and repurposed for productive use.”
"EPA continues to demonstrate its commitment to delist, or partially delist Superfund sites so they can be restored to productive use," said EPA Regional Administrator Cathy Stepp. "Promoting redevelopment is part of EPA's core mission and helps spur the local economy and create jobs in communities near Superfund sites."
The 10-acre site is located in the northeastern section of Tomah. The city operated an open, unlined landfill accepting municipal, industrial, and construction waste from the late 1940s to 1955. The city sold part of the site to the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs for construction of the Wisconsin National Guard Armory. Landfilling operations had contaminated soil and groundwater with lead. Following the cleanup, land use controls, operation and maintenance activities and five-year reviews will be ongoing at the site.
While EPA encourages site reuse throughout the cleanup process, deletions from the NPL can help revitalize communities and promote economic growth by signaling to potential developers and financial institutions that cleanup is complete. Over the past several years, the agency has focused on streamlining the deletion process and increasing the number of opportunities to demonstrate to communities that cleanup is complete.
For example, in FY 2017 EPA doubled the number of full and partial sites deleted over the previous fiscal year with a total of six sites and then significantly increased the total number of deletions to 22 in FY 2018 and 27 in FY 2019.
The agency’s FY 2019 deletions include 12 full sites and parts of 15 more sites.
Additional information about EPA’s NPL deletions can be viewed at https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/superfund/deleted-national-priorities-list-npl-sites-state
The Superfund Task Force Accomplishments can be viewed at https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-task-force-recommendations-and-accomplishments
To search for information about these and other NPL sites, please visit https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/superfund/search-superfund-sites-where-you-live
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