Superfund Success Stories

Workers construct an ion exchange system as part of one of the water treatment plants.

Water, Water Everywhere... Finally a Drop to Drink!
San Gabriel Valley, Baldwin Park Site
Southern California

In Southern California where water is a precious commodity, an agreement to clean up contaminated groundwater is hailed by all concerned as a landmark solution to the largest of the San Gabriel Valley Superfund sites. The $200 million pact-signed by seven water companies and eight responsible parties in March 2002 and made effective on May 9, 2002 will result in clean water for approximately 100,000 homes. more....
Related Links within the Superfund Site:
- U.S. EPA Region 9

Cleanup crews remediate soil contaminated with aldrin, dieldrin, dibromochloropropane and arsenic from years of destructive disposal practices.

From Weapons to Wildlife!
Rocky Mountain Arsenal Site
Denver, Colorado

The 27-square-mile Rocky Mountain Arsenal (RMA) Superfund site, located northeast of Denver, is now in the process of being cleaned up and transformed into one of the largest urban national wildlife refuges in the country. more....
Related Links within the Superfund Site:
- U.S. EPA Region 8

Collecting gas and water vapor from a poplar tree

Using Phytoremediation to Clean Up Sites!
Superfund Story

Phytoremediation is the direct use of green plants and their associated microorganisms to stabilize or reduce contamination in soils, sludges, sediments, surface water, or ground water. First tested actively at waste sites in the early 1990s, phytoremediation has been tested at more than 200 sites nationwide. more....
Related Links:
- Superfund Program

What It Was Like to Be an On-Scene Coordinator at Ground Zero
Superfund Story

"The dust there was so thick, I couldn't see the hand in front of my face," says Mike Solecki, one of the first EPA responders on the scene of the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster.

Solecki, along with Mike Ferriola and Gad Tawadros, was deployed from Region 2's Edison, New Jersey office minutes after the first plane hit. The three On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs) were but a few blocks back when the first tower began to collapse. "Someone yelled, 'I smell gas, I smell gas' and everyone began running," Solecki says. more....
Related Links:
- Superfund Program

EPA Enhances Nationwide Emergency Response Capabilities!
Environmental Response Team-West Grand Opening

On February 6, 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officially opened Environmental Response Team - West in Las Vegas, Nevada. The ERT - West was established to make the technical expertise of the EPA Environmental Response Team more accessible nationwide. more....
Related Links:
- Environmental Response Team

EPA responds to the Columbia Shuttle accident.

EPA's Continued Response to Columbia Shuttle Accident
Superfund Story

In response to the tragic loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to assist the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) providing response operations to conduct environmental monitoring and assist in the clean up of hazardous materials. more....
Related Links:
- Superfund Program

Residents work closely with EPA to find a suitable location for Landfill Gas Treatment System

In California, Many Hands Make Greener Work!
Operating Industries, Inc. Landfill
Monterey Park, California

About 10 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, the former Operating Industries, Inc. (OII) landfill that contained a wide array of wastes and the ever-present risk of fire is now a green hill. Part of this site may soon become a new retail shopping area, bringing new business to the area.  more....
Related Links within the Superfund Site:
  - EPA Region 9 Superfund
  - Superfund Redevelopment Initiative

Picture of new softball fields where residents can enjoy a favorite summer pastime.

On the Path to a Greener Prairie!
Kerr-McGee
West Chicago, Illinois

Runners, walkers, and bicyclists enjoying the Illinois Prairie Path near Chicago can breathe a little easier as they pass one stop along the 55-mile recreational trail-Reed-Keppler Park. For more than 40 years, an 11-acre site in the 100-acre park served as a landfill for thorium mill tailings from the Kerr-McGee Rare Earths Facility, and was a health and environmental threat to the 15,000 residents who live within 3 miles of the park. more....
Related Links within the Superfund Site:
- EPA Region 5 Superfund

Volunteers plant a variety of upland plants on the Squally Beach restoration site along the Hylebos Waterway

Partners Navigate Upstream to Cleaner Waters!
Hylebos Waterway
Tacoma, Washington

Ranking as one of the largest Superfund sites in the country, the Commencement Bay Nearshore/Tideflats site covers 12 square miles in the Southern Basin of Puget Sound, on the shores of Tacoma, Washington. Massive cleanup efforts are being initiated in discrete portions of the Bay, marking the first actual in-water cleanup work in Commencement Bay since 425,000 cubic yards (cy) of contaminated sediment from Sitcum Waterway was dredged in 1995.  more....
Related Links within the Superfund Site:
  - EPA Region 10 Superfund
  - Superfund Redevelopment Initiative

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