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EPA proposes South Minneapolis residential soil contamination site for Superfund National Priorities List

Release Date: 09/27/2006
Contact Information: Mick Hans, (312) 353-5050, [email protected] Anne Rowan, (312) 353-9391, [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 06-OPA 171

CHICAGO (Sept. 26, 2006) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today proposed the South Minneapolis Residential Soil Contamination site in Minneapolis, Minn., for addition to the Superfund National Priorities List. Sites on the NPL are eligible for additional study and resources under EPA's Superfund program.

Nationally, five new sites were added to the NPL, bringing the total to 1,246, and six sites were proposed for addition to the list. (Under the NPL process, sites are first proposed and public comments considered, before a determination is made to formally add a site to the list.) Two of the proposed sites are in EPA Region 5: the South Minneapolis site and the Elm Street Ground Water Contamination site, Terre Haute, Ind. The ASARCO Taylor Springs site, Taylor Springs, Ill., was among the six sites added to the NPL.

The South Minneapolis site encompasses a number of neighborhoods near the intersection of 28th Street and Hiawatha Avenue, formerly the CMC Heartland Lite Yard which produced an arsenic-based grasshopper pesticide from about 1938 through 1968.

Since 2004, EPA has collected soil samples from more than 4,000 properties in the area. More than 60 residential properties exceeded an acute health level and have been cleaned up (soil removed) by EPA. The agency hosted three community meetings last week to discuss this effort with area residents. Further soil cleanups of residential properties are pending a review of the latest soil sampling.

A 60-day comment period on the proposed addition of the South Minneapolis site will begin once official notice appears in the Federal Register. Comments may be e-mailed to http://[email protected]. Information on submitting comments by regular or express mail and background on the NPL process is at www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm. Information on EPA's activities at the site over the past few years is at www.epa.gov/region5/sites/cmcheartland/index.htm.

With the proposal of the six new sites, there are 61 proposed sites awaiting final agency action including five federal facilities. Altogether there are 1,307 final and proposed sites. Cleanup construction has been completed at 978 sites.