News Releases from Region 01

EPA Announces Deletion of Old Southington Landfill Superfund Site, Other Cleanup Milestones in Connecticut

(BOSTON) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced major milestones at two Superfund site cleanups in Southington, Conn.: the deletion of the Old Southington Landfill Superfund Site from the National Priorities List (NPL) and improvements at the Solvents Recovery Service of New England site that will minimize the environmental footprint of the cleanup.

"The deletion of the Old Southington Landfill from the Superfund list and the greening of the Solvents Recovery Service site signal important progress for communities here in Southington," said EPA New England Regional Administrator Alexandra Dunn. "The progress at these sites exemplifies EPA's and this administration's commitment to clean up contaminated sites while working with the local community every step of the way to ensure their concerns are heard and addressed."

"Working collaboratively with the EPA, we are taking action to correct the mistakes of the past. Today's announcement is concrete evidence of what we can do working together and with our communities to cleanup, protect and preserve Connecticut's environment," said Connecticut Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Rob Klee.

At the Old Southington Landfill site, EPA and the State of Connecticut have determined that cleanup actions conducted at the site are protective of public health and the environment. EPA and the state concluded that all necessary Superfund-financed cleanup activities under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act have been implemented and that no further cleanup work by responsible parties is anticipated for the site.

At the Solvents Recovery Service site, as a result of remediation efforts that began in 2005, the groundwater pumped from the site now meets standards that are acceptable for discharge to the Southington municipal water treatment system. This development, along with the activation of an array of solar panels at the site, will reduce energy used for cleanup activities at the Solvents Recovery Service site by 97 percent.

Under the Trump Administration, the Superfund program has reemerged as a priority to fulfill and strengthen EPA's core mission of protecting human health and the environment.

EPA added the Old Southington Landfill to the NPL in 1984 after confirming that groundwater in a nearby municipal well contained volatile organic compounds at levels that exceeded state standards. EPA oversaw the cleanup of the site to address contamination in soil, surface water, and sediment at the landfill and adjacent Black Pond, as well as vapor intrusion into buildings downgradient of the landfill. Groundwater will be monitored by the responsible parties and overseen by EPA and the state to assure the continued effectiveness of the cap and overall remedy.

The final deletion of the Old Southington Landfill from the NPL became effective on September 12, 2018. The parties responsible for the cleanup of the site will continue to perform operation and maintenance activities along with long-term monitoring and EPA will continue to perform Five-Year Reviews. The goal of long-term monitoring and Five-Year Reviews is to ensure remedial actions conducted at the site continue to be protective of public health and the environment. This deletion does not preclude future actions under Superfund if warranted.

EPA added the Solvents Recovery Service site to the NPL in September 1983 to facilitate the cleanup of sludge and other pollution from a former hazardous waste treatment facility that operated there for 36 years. Under a settlement with EPA in 1983, Solvents Recovery Service was required to improve its procedures for handling solvents, construct a groundwater pumping and treatment system to prevent the migration of contaminated groundwater, and install an off-site system to capture contaminated groundwater beyond the facility boundaries.

Great strides have been made to collaborate with key stakeholders to integrate beneficial reuse of Solvents Recovery Service property into the overall cleanup. A former railroad right-of-way that passes through the site was renovated, adding a new section to the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, a regional "rails-to-trails" greenway which covers approximately 84 miles from New Haven, Conn., to Northampton, Mass. Additional work will be needed for several more decades to meet the State of Connecticut's goal for restoration of the groundwater to background levels.

Information about the Old Southington Landfill site is available on EPA's website at: www.epa.gov/superfund/oldsouthington

Information about the Solvents Recovery Service site is available at: https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0100124.