[PLEASE NOTE: The information presented below is offered for educational purposes only.]

Superfund Sites in the U.S.

Superfund sites are places in the U.S. identified by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as having the most severe pollution problems.

Congress established Superfund in 1980 following the environmental disaster at Love Canal in upstate New York. Officially named the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Superfund law provides broad authority for direct federal action against threatened or actual release of hazardous substances posing danger to public health or the environment.

Included in CERCLA is a provision to levy a petroleum- and chemical-industry tax to fund clean-up of abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites ($1.6 billion was raised for this purpose in the law's first five years).

Under CERCLA, potentially liable for contamination at a Superfund site are:
• Current owners or operators of the site [CERCLA section 107(a)(1)];
• Owners or operators of the site at the time disposal of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant occurred [CERCLA section 107(a)(2)];
• Anyone who arranged for the disposal of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant at the site [CERCLA section 107(a)(3)];
• Anyone who transported a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant to the site if he or she also chose that site as the place to dispose of same [CERCLA section 107(a)(4)].

There were 1,604 Superfund sites across the U.S. as of 2005, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. While many have already been cleaned up, hundreds upon hundreds more have not.

Some Superfund sites are in such seemingly dangerous condition that they have been moved to the front of the line for locations needing remedial action. The EPA's registry of these sites is called the National Priorities List (NPL) and there is a formal process in place for determining which hazardous waste sites warrant being named to it. Upon addition to the NPL, a site becomes eligible for long-term clean-up financed by the Superfund program. The list itself, however, is intended primarily to guide the EPA in identifying sites meriting further investigation. 

Below is a list of states where Superfund sites exist. Click a state to learn more about the Superfund sites within its borders.
 

see also:

KY Environmental Pollution Lawsuit: Kentucky Superfund Sites
Kentucky Superfund Sites

IN Environmental Pollution Lawsuit: Indiana Superfund Sites
Indiana Superfund Sites

Property Damage Property Damage Lawsuits/Lawyers - Fight Back Against Toxic Pollution
Looking for information about property damage lawsuits?