EPA deletes Utah and Wyoming sites from Superfund list

EPA News Release:

Contact: Richard Mylott, mylott.richard@epa.gov, 303-312-6654

EPA deletes Utah and Wyoming sites from Superfund list

Deletion of sites from National Priorities List reflect new emphasis on Superfund program progress

DENVER (Sept. 24, 2019) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized the deletion of two Superfund sites in EPA Region 8 – the Mystery Bridge Road/U.S. Hwy 20 site in Natrona County, Wyoming, and the Intermountain Waste Oil Refinery, in Bountiful, Utah – from the National Priorities List (NPL) of the nation’s most contaminated sites. EPA published the deletion of these sites in September 20th Federal Register notices based on a determination that all required cleanup activities are complete at both sites.

“The deletion of these sites from the Superfund list represents the culmination of years of efforts to investigate and clean up contamination in these communities,” said EPA Regional Administrator Gregory Sopkin. “We share these achievements with our partners at the State of Utah and the State of Wyoming.”

Under the Trump administration, EPA’s Superfund program has reemerged as a priority to fulfill and strengthen the agency’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment. In fiscal year 2018, EPA deleted all or part of 22 sites from the Superfund’s NPL, the largest number of deletions in one year since FY 2005 and a significant increase over the past few years.

Intermountain Waste Oil Refinery site, Utah

The two-acre Intermountain Waste Oil Refinery site in Bountiful, Utah, was used for various purposes over the past decades including brick manufacturing, asphalt production, waste oil refining, petroleum trucking and oil blending. These operations contaminated soil and groundwater with hazardous substances. The long-term remedies for the site included addressing risk from indoor vapors from soil and groundwater contamination using a pump-and-treat system and dual-phase extraction. Groundwater monitoring is ongoing. Site cleanup also included various removal actions to address immediate threats to human health and the environment. These include the removal and disposal of numerous containers, drums and debris from various portions of the site.

EPA is finalizing the deletion of the site based on a determination that no further action is needed to protect human health and the environment. EPA and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality have determined that all appropriate Superfund response actions, other than operation and maintenance, and five-year reviews, have been completed.

For more information: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/intermountain-waste

Mystery Bridge Road site, Wyoming

The Mystery Bridge Road/U.S. Highway 20 Superfund site is located in Natrona County, just east of Casper, Wyoming. The site originally included two industrial properties and a residential area impacted by releases of contaminants, including wastewater, oils and solvents, creating two areas of soil contamination and two groundwater plumes affecting a nearby residential area. The two industrial properties were facilities formerly owned by Kinder Morgan (KMI) and Dow Chemical Company/Dowell Schlumberger, Inc. (Dow/DSI). The downgradient residential area is called the Brookhurst residential subdivision and consists of 125 lots ranging from two to five acres in size. KMI and Dow/DSI, worked with EPA to clean up the site through a series of removal and remedial actions focusing on groundwater and source contamination.

EPA is finalizing the deletion of the site based on a determination that no further action is needed to protect human health and the environment. EPA and Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality have determined that all appropriate Superfund response actions, other than maintenance of institutional controls and five-year reviews, have been completed.

For more information: www.epa.gov/superfund/mystery-bridge