News Releases from Region 03
EPA removes site in Morgantown, W.Va. from Superfund National Priorities List
(PHILADELPHIA) August 23, 2018 – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the Ordnance Works Disposal Areas Superfund Site in Morgantown, West Virginia is being deleted from the Superfund National Priorities List. In Fiscal Year 2018, EPA has deleted nine sites and partially deleted one site from the National Priorities List.
“Completing Superfund cleanups continues to be a priority at EPA as we work to create a safer and healthier environment for all communities affected,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio. “Removing the Ordnance Works Disposal Areas site from the list represents an important step toward achieving this goal.”
“I am happy to hear that the Morgantown Ordnance Works Disposal area has completed the remediation process and that it will no longer be listed as a Superfund site,” said West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice. “The Superfund program process is a very deliberate one that has many benchmarks that have to be met in order for a site to be listed and then deleted, and I am glad to know that this site no longer poses an immediate threat to the health of our citizens or to our environment.”
“The EPA’s Superfund process is vital to making sure that the environmental sins of the past do not haunt us forever,” said West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Austin Caperton. “The completion of remediation at this site is yet another success story for the state. This and other Superfund successes, such as the productive reuse of the former Sharon Steel Superfund Site recently recognized by EPA, are promising for the state of West Virginia and the quality of life for its citizens. West Virginia still has Superfund sites that will require much more remediation, but significant progress has been made to ensure a fully-protected and healthy environment.”
The Ordnance Works Disposal Areas site, which was added to the Superfund list in 1986, consists of a six-acre disposal area within a manufacturing plant area that covers more than 100 acres. The site is located in a rural area at 1100 DuPont Road, Morgantown.
Several companies operated chemical production facilities at this site since 1941 including ammonia and methanol production, operation of a coke plant, and production of various other organic chemicals. Contaminated materials from these industries were disposed in the disposal area which includes: a landfill, former lagoons, and contaminated soils and sediments.
Cleanup of the disposal area included excavation and off-site treatment of all tar-like material from the lagoon area and stream sediments. The remedy also required consolidation of contaminated soils and sediments into the existing on-site landfill and covering the landfill with a multi-layer cap. Additionally, the remedy included restoration of excavated areas, streams and wetlands, long-term monitoring, and institutional controls.
EPA has conducted five-year reviews of the site’s remedy to ensure that the remedies protect public health and the environment, and function as intended. The most recent review, completed in September 2016, concluded that the remedy continues to be protective of human health and the environment.
Background
The National Priorities List is a roster of the nation’s most contaminated sites that threaten human health or the environment. The sites on the list are eligible for cleanup under EPA’s Superfund program. EPA removes sites from the list once all the remedies are successfully implemented and no further cleanup is required to protect human health or the environment.
For more information about the site, visit: https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0302884
