Region 2 Superfund
Serving New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and Eight Tribal Nations.
Superfund
Related Information
- Basics
- Find Sites
- Emergency Response
- Public Liaison
- Pre-Remedial
- Database Search
- Enviromapper
- Superfund Headquarters
- Green Remediation
- Technical Assistance Grants
- Technical Assistance Services for Communities
- Superfund Job Training Initiative
- Community Engagement Initiative
- Community Involvement
- Electronic Data Deliverable (EDD)
The 1978 discovery of toxic chemicals beneath the suburban infrastructure
of Love Canal, in Niagara Falls, New York first illuminated the
consequences of environmental neglect. For decades, many American
businesses had disposed of hazardous waste improperly, contaminating
tens of thousands of sites nationally, including nearly 250 within
Region 2 alone. Accidents, spills, and leaks of hazardous materials
resulted in land, water, and air that pose immediate and potential
threats to public and environmental health.
Citizen reaction to these localized threats led Congress to establish
the Superfund Program in 1980, an initiative designed to locate,
investigate, and clean up the most hazardous sites nationwide.
Superfund is officially called CERCLA, or the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. The EPA administers
the Superfund Program in cooperation with individual states and
tribal governments.
The national EPA office that oversees management of the program is the Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI). The sites dealt with under Superfund are listed on the NPL, or National Priorities List. Superfund constitutes a crucial environmental and economic precedent within American legislative history.
Program Links
Superfund/CERCLA
1980 legislation to locate, investigate, and clean up hazardous waste
sites in the United States
Links By Region
Find cleanup information and sites
where you live and work
Brownfields
EPA program providing funds for the redevelopment of real properties
contaminated with hazardous waste
RCRA Corrective Action
Requires facilities managing hazardous waste to clean up environmental
contaminants