U.S. EPA Removes Site From National Priorities List

The EPA has removed a 20-acre area of a former Beloit Corp. superfund site in Rockton, Ill. from the National Priorities List (NPL).

According to Beloit Daily News, cleanup has been completed at the former research center portion of the machine manufacturing site.

Beloit Corp. manufactured paper-making equipment and operated research at the property from 1957 to 1999, according to Beloit Daily News. The manufacturing activities at the site contaminated soil and area groundwater. The site was placed on the NPL in 1990.

The EPA has removed 18 NPL sites from its registry since 2017. They have also partially deleted four sites from the NPL, according to Insurance News Net.

According to Beloit Daily News, the Beloit Corp. installed a groundwater pump-and-treat system in the manufacturing area of the site in 1996. The Illinois EPA (IEPA) has been operating the treatment system in 2002. In 2008, the U.S. EPA and IPEA expanded the groundwater pump-and-treat-system. Federal EPA Authorities will work the the IEPA to prohibit any future residential use or new water wells at the site.

"U.S. EPA is making good on its commitment to pick up the pace of Superfund cleanups so the sites can be restored to productive use," said EPA Regional Administrator Cathy Stepp in a news release. "Promoting redevelopment is part of U.S. EPA's core mission and helps spur the local economy in communities near Superfund sites."

The Superfund program has reemerged as a priority to fulfill and strengthen U.S. EPA’s mission of protecting human health and the environment, according Insurance News Net.

The U.S. EPA removes sites or portions of sites from the NPL once all cleanup actions are successfully implemented and no further work is required to protect human health of the environment.

According to Insurance News Net, the U.S. EPA proposal the partial deletion on July 16, 2018, and then held two 30-day comment periods. The agency’s response to comments and the final rule to delete the site can be found in docket EPA-HQ-SFUND-1900-0011 on their website.