News Releases from Region 08

Sharon Steel Superfund site in Midvale, Utah among sites on redevelopment focus list

DENVER  – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified the Sharon Steel Superfund site in Midvale, Utah as among 31 current and former Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) sites with the greatest expected redevelopment and commercial potential.

“EPA is more than a collaborative partner to remediate the nation’s most contaminated sites, we’re also working to successfully integrate Superfund sites back into communities across the country,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “Today’s redevelopment list incorporates Superfund sites ready to become catalysts for economic growth and revitalization.”

The 470-acre Sharon Steel Corp. (also known as the Midvale Tailings) Superfund site is located near downtown Midvale, with access to I-15 and I-215, and is zoned for mixed-use redevelopment. A Utah Transit Authority light rail station is located nearby. Site surroundings include commercial and residential areas to the north and east, and open space and agricultural land to the south and west. The Jordan River Parkway Trail runs along the site’s western edge, supporting a variety of non-motorized recreational uses. EPA is working with the City of Midvale, Utah DEQ and the Gardner Company (one of the main developers of the adjacent Midvale Slag Superfund site) to support the redevelopment of the Sharon Steel property as the Jordan Bluffs redevelopment area.

From 1906 to 1971, a smelting and ore milling facilities at the site produced lead, copper, zinc and other metals.  These activities contaminated air, soil, surface water and groundwater with heavy metals. EPA placed the site on the Superfund NPL in 1990.  Cleanup actions conducted by EPA and the state of Utah’s included removal of buildings and contaminated soil, waste consolidation and capping, riverbank stabilization and fencing installation. Operation and maintenance activities, including groundwater monitoring, are ongoing.  After cleanup finished in 1999, EPA removed the site from the NPL in 2004.

“The ongoing transformation of the former Sharon Steel Superfund site as the Jordan Bluffs redevelopment reflects the enduring leadership, commitment and expertise of our partners at Utah DEQ, Midvale City and the Gardner Company,” said EPA Regional Administrator Doug Benevento. “We recently celebrated a similar success at the adjacent Midvale Slag Superfund site, now-thriving as Bingham Junction, and we look forward to a new and productive future for the Sharon Steel site. These projects are creating much-needed housing, amenities, and business opportunities in one of the fastest growing areas in the West and offer potent examples of how Superfund sites can be revitalized as economic and community assets.”

Superfund redevelopment has helped countless communities reclaim and reuse thousands of acres of formerly contaminated land. Superfund sites on the list have significant redevelopment potential based on previous outside interest, access to transportation corridors, land values, and other critical development drivers.

This is not a complete list, rather it easily directs interested developers and potential owners to Superfund sites with redevelopment potential. The sites on this list are in alphabetical order and not ranked in any particular way. As of January 11, 2018, the Superfund Redevelopment List is:

• Aerojet General Corp., Rancho Cordova, CA
• Aircraft Components, Benton Harbor, MI
• Allied Paper, Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo, MI
• Armour Road, North Kansas City, MO
• Arrowhead Refinery Co., Hermantown, MN
• BoRit Asbestos, Ambler, PA
• Bunker Hill Mining & Metallurgical Complex, Smelterville, ID
• Crater Resources Inc./Keystone Coke Co./Alan Wood Steel Co., Upper Merion
  Township, PA
• Eagle Mine, Minturn, CO
• Florida Steel Corp., Indiantown, FL
• Frontier Hard Chrome, Inc., Vancouver, WA
• Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp – Columbus, Columbus, MS
• Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp – Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL
• Koppers Co., Inc., Charleston, SC
• Libby Asbestos and Libby Groundwater Sites, Libby, MT
• Many Diversified Interests, Inc., Houston, TX
• McCormick & Baxter Creosoting Co., Portland, OR
• Metal Bank, Philadelphia, PA
• MGM Brakes, Cloverdale, CA
• New Bedford, New Bedford, MA
• Operating Industries Inc. Landfill, Monterey Park, CA
• Peoples Natural Gas, Dubuque, IA
• Pepper Steel & Alloys, Inc., Medley, FL
• Quendall Terminal, Renton, WARaymark Industries, Inc., Stratford, CT
• Roebling Steel Co., Burlington County, NJ
• Sanford Dry Cleaners, Sanford, FL
• Sharon Steel Corp., Midvale, UT
• St. Louis River Site, Duluth, MN
• U.S. Finishing/Cone Mills, Greenville, SC
• U.S. Smelter and Lead Refinery, Inc., East Chicago, IN

In July 2017, the Superfund Task Force released its recommendations to streamline and improve the Superfund program including a focus on redevelopment training, tools and resources towards sites on the NPL. EPA will work diligently with developers interested in reusing these and other Superfund sites; will identify potentially interested businesses and industries to keep them apprised of redevelopment opportunities; and will continue to engage with community groups in cleanup and redevelopment activities to ensure the successful redevelopment and revitalization of their communities. 

Administrator Pruitt has set the expectation that there will be a renewed focus on accelerating work and progress at all Superfund sites across the country. The Superfund program remains dedicated to addressing risk and accelerating progress at all of its sites, not just those on the list.

This is not a complete list of sites in the Superfund program with redevelopment potential. The list is intended to be dynamic. Sites will move on and off the list as appropriate.

For more information please visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund-redevelopment-initiative/superfund-redevelopment-focus-list