The West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton, Mo., shown here in 2014, is among the hazardous waste sites targeted for intense attention for cleanup.
POLLUTION
Cleanup of complex hazardous waste sites, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency oversees through its Superfund program, may accelerate in 2018 from a historically glacial pace. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt puts a high priority on hazardous waste cleanups, seemingly higher than the regulation of chemicals and control of air and water pollution control. “There is nothing more core to the Agency’s mission than revitalizing contaminated land,” Pruitt said in July. He wants to get contaminated sites quickly redeveloped or otherwise reused. Sites that fall under the jurisdiction of EPA’s Superfund program often involve mixtures of wastes, hard-to-remediate contamination such as groundwater pollution, and litigation over cleanup plans or liability. Sites can languish for years to decades awaiting final cleanup. In December 2017, Pruitt targeted 21 Superfund sites across the U.S. for “immediate, intense attention.” EPA plans to get parties who are potentially responsible for the pollution or third parties, such as investors in commercial development, to pick up the tab for final cleanup. There will be “no commitment of additional
28
C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | JANUARY 15, 2018
funding” from EPA for this effort, the agency says. Top Republicans on the House Energy & Commerce Committee, however, question “whether the potential stigma of being included on a list ... with no additional funding, will help or hinder the progress at these sites” in a letter to Pruitt. The 21 places on Pruitt’s list include three former chemical plants in New Jersey: American Cyanamid, a site where chemicals and pharmaceuticals were manufactured that is now owned by Pfizer; Diamond Alkali, which made pesticides including DDT and Vietnam War-era defoliant Agent Orange; and Ventron/Velsicol, which processed mercury for 45 years. Other former chemical production sites on the list are in Kentucky and Rhode Island. Also on the list for expedited action is the West Lake Landfill site in Bridgeton, Mo., which includes a former limestone quarry and adjacent areas used to dispose of nearly 8,000 metric tons of leached barium sulfate from the Manhattan Project as well as municipal trash, industrial waste, and construction debris.—CHERYL
HOGUE
C R E D I T: KQ UE I RO LOM C E/ WI K IP ED IA C R EATI V E CO M MO N S
Hazardous waste prioritized for faster cleanup
