EPA Press Office:

EPA Removes C&R Battery from List of Nation’s Most Contaminated Sites

PHILADELPHIA (Aug. 23, 2022) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it is deleting C&R Battery Company, Inc. Superfund Site in Chesterfield County, Virginia, from the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL is a list of the nation’s most contaminated hazardous waste sites. “While EPA encourages site reuse throughout the cleanup process, deletions from the NPL can revitalize communities, raise property values, and promote economic growth by signaling to potential developers and financial institutions that cleanup is complete,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz.  “Achieving this milestone can be especially impactful for communities.” 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 have gone into getting these sites to the point where they can be deleted from the NPL. Between the early 1970s and 1985, C&R Battery Co., Inc. used the 11-acre site located near the James River to dismantle batteries from cars, trucks and commercial applications in order to recover lead and lead oxide. The process involved cutting open batteries and draining acid into on-site ponds. These practices contaminated the soil, sediment and surface water with lead and other hazardous chemicals. EPA oversaw clean-up actions, including excavating and disposing of contaminated surface soils and sediments.  Following a final inspection and detailed review of site data, EPA’s clean-up goals have been deemed complete for all groundwater, surface water, sediment and soil, which includes the establishment of institutional controls to prevent future contamination. The James River wetlands, an area approximately three miles downstream typically used for recreational purposes, were determined to be free of site contaminants as well. To keep the public informed of these actions, EPA Published a Federal Register Notice on March 22, proposing to delete the C&R Battery Site from the NPL and opened a 60-day comment period. No adverse comments were received. For more information visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/crbattery