News Releases from Region 05

U.S. EPA to hold July 31 open house for the Jacobsville Superfund site

For Immediate Release: No. 16-OPA076

CHICAGO (July 27, 2017) — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will hold an open house on Monday, July 31, to discuss the lead-contaminated soil cleanup at the Jacobsville Superfund site in Evansville, Ind. EPA officials will provide information and answer questions about lead soil sampling, results and public health.

EPA continues to remove contaminated soil at residential properties and recreational areas located at the Jacobsville site. In 2004, EPA added the site to the National Priorities List, a list of the worst contaminated sites in the country. EPA is planning additional work for 2017 through at least 2020.

When:            4-7 p.m., Monday July 31, 2017

Where:           Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library – Central Library
                          200 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Evansville
                          (Parking for the library is off of Chestnut Street.)

For more information, or to request special accommodations, contact Charles Rodriguez, EPA community involvement coordinator, at rodriguez.charles@epa.gov, 312-886-7472, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., weekdays, or visit: www.epa.gov/superfund/jacobsville-neighborhood-soil.

The Superfund program is a cornerstone of the work that the EPA performs for citizens and communities across the country. On July 25, 2017 Administrator Pruitt accepted recommendations from the task force established on May 22, 2017 to revitalize the Superfund program. “My goal as Administrator is to restore the Superfund program to its rightful place at the center of the agency’s core mission.”

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 been initiated and will be ongoing into the future.

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

###