EPA Superfund site deletions in 2019 provide lasting benefit to communities in Region 8

EPA Press Release:

EPA Superfund site deletions in 2019 provide lasting benefit to communities in Region 8

Deletions in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming contribute to largest national tally since 2001

DENVER (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 four sites from Superfund’s National Priorities List (NPL) in EPA Region 8, benefitting communities in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming. These actions contributed to a total of 27 deletions achieved across the nation, the largest number 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 remains focused on making the Superfund process more effective and efficient as we work to serve our communities and secure public health and the environment,” said EPA Regional Administrator Gregory Sopkin.  “The deletions we finalized this year in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming are important milestones. They provide closure to communities with sites that have been the subject of years of investigation and cleanup actions.”

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.

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 in Region 8 include two full sites and parts of two more sites.  

The 2 sites EPA completely deleted from the NPL in Region 8 are:

• Intermountain Waste Oil Refinery in Bountiful, Utah
• Mystery Bridge Rd/U.S. Highway 20 in Evansville, Wyoming

The 2 sites EPA partially deleted in Region 8 are:

• Libby Asbestos in Libby, Montana
• Vasquez Boulevard and I-70 in Denver, Colorado

Additional information about EPA’s NPL deletions can be viewed at

https://www.epa.gov/superfund/deleted-national-priorities-list-npl-sites-state

The Superfund Task Force Accomplishments can be viewed at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-task-force-recommendations-and-accomplishments

To search for information about these and other NPL sites, please visit https://www.epa.gov/superfund/search-superfund-sites-where-you-live