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Local Superfund Achievements Highlighted in 1998 Accomplishments Report

Release Date: 02/08/1999
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(#99019) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Region 2 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today issued its 1998 Superfund Accomplishments Report, which highlights such environmental and health-protecting achievements as the cleanup of more than 900,000 tons of contaminated soils and sediments during the last fiscal year. The report, which covers the period from October 1, 1997 to September 30, 1998, details the immediate and long-term actions taken by the Agency in New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to eliminate the threats posed by uncontrolled contamination from hazardous waste sites.

This report presents the accomplishments of the Superfund Program in terms that matter to communities, said EPA Regional Administrator Jeanne M. Fox. "It tells them in plain language, how much hazardous material we have cleaned up or removed during the past year. We are very proud of this major effort to clean up the hazardous residue of the past.

Among the other impressive accomplishments highlighted in the report are:
- the emergency removal of almost 28,000 drums and 6,700 tons of hazardous wastes;
- the removal of 15,611 tons of harmful sediments from rivers and streams; and
- the treatment of approximately 7.5 billion gallons of contaminated ground water.

The 1998 Superfund Accomplishments Report provides a year-long profile of the actions taken to protect the environment and human health by the Region's Superfund Program. It describes the activities of the Superfund Removal Program, which uses fast-track cleanup experts to quickly remove chemical hazards from communities where there is an immediate risk to public health, and the Superfund Remedial Program, which focuses on the elimination of long-term risks from more than 200 regional hazardous waste sites included on the National Priorities List (NPL), the list of the nation's most seriously contaminated sites.

Over the past five years, the Region's Superfund Enforcement program has been exceptional. Nearly $1 billion has been achieved in almost 250 settlements for response actions and cost recovery. These agreement provide for over $550 million in responsible party cleanup work, and over $415 million in cost recovery for the trust fund. Included are such notable settlements as the Love Canal site (valued at $129 million), the Helen Kramer Landfill site (at $95 million) and the Bridgeport Rental and Oil Services site (at over $220 million).

The 1998 Superfund Accomplishments Report also chronicles the growing list of municipalities in the Region that have received federal funding to revitalize industrial waste sites idled by hazardous waste problems through EPA's Brownfields Program.

The full text of the 1998 Superfund Accomplishments Report is available on the EPA website at www.epa.gov/region02/superfnd/update.htm.

For more information contact:
Richard Cahill, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3666 FAX: 212-637-5046 E-Mail: [email protected]