News Releases from Region 04

EPA Proposed Plan Meeting Scheduled for the Continental Cleaners Superfund Site in Miami, Fla.

ATLANTA – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a public meeting on Thursday, August 24, 2017 from 6:00 pm to 8 pm to review the Proposed Cleanup Plan for the Continental Cleaners Superfund site in in Miami, Fla.

When:              Thursday, August 24, 2017

What:               Public Meeting, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Where:             Miami Northwestern Sr. H. S. Auditorium

1100 NW 71st Street

Miami, FL

EPA is soliciting public comments on the proposed plan for 30 days beginning on August 24, 2017. A copy of the proposed cleanup plan and associated documents related to the site are available in the Administrative Record and Information Repository housed at the TACOLCY Center, located across the street from the Site, at 6161 NW 9th Ave., Miami, FL 33127 and EPA-Region 4's Information Center, 61 Forsyth Street, Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center, Atlanta, Georgia 30303.   Written comments should be submitted by September 25, 2017, to bornholm.jon@epa.gov:

Jon Bornholm, EPA Remedial Project Manager

U.S. EPA - Region 4

61 Forsyth Street, SW

Atlanta, Georgia 30303-3104

For further information, please contact Kyle Bryant, EPA Community Involvement Coordinator toll free (877) 718-3752, directly (404) 562-9073 or via email bryant.kyle@epa.gov.

The Continental Cleaners (CC) Site is located at 798 NW 62nd Street in Miami, Miami-Dade County, Florida. The Site is located in the Liberty City neighborhood and is surrounded by residential story building. Prior to 1969, the property was used as a gas station. In 1968, three underground gasoline storage tanks located in the northwestern corner of the property were reportedly abandoned in place by filling the tanks with sand and capping the tanks with concrete. The property was used for dry cleaning and laundry operations from 1967 until 2005 when dry cleaning operations were stopped. Between 2005 and 2011, the CC property was utilized for laundering purposes only. After 2011, the CC building/property has remained relatively vacant.

The CC property is bordered by the Construction and Craft Workers Local Union No. 1652 to the north across NW 62nd Street, a Miami-Dade County parking lot to the east, the Epipheny Apartment complex to the south, and the Belafonte Tacolcy Park across NW 8th Avenue to the west. The Thena Crowder Elementary School is located approximately 1,150 feet north of the CC property and Miami Northwestern High School is located approximately 2,200 feet northwest of the CC property.

On July 25, 2017 Administrator Pruitt accepted recommendations from the EPA task force established on May 22, 2017 to revitalize the Superfund program.

The task force’s recommendations focused on five overarching goals: expediting cleanup and remediation, reinvigorating cleanup and reuse efforts by potentially responsible parties, encouraging private investment to facilitate cleanup and reuse, promoting redevelopment and community revitalization and engaging with partners and stakeholders.

Work to prioritize and reinvigorate the program by the task force has begun and will continue.

The Superfund Task Force Recommendations can be viewed at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-task-force-recommendations

For Federal Register notices and supporting documents for the final and proposed sites: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/current-npl-updates-new-proposed-npl-sites-and-new-npl-sites

For information about Superfund and the NPL: http://www.epa.gov/superfund

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And on Twitter: @EPASoutheast