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EPA proposes Cedarburg, Wis., site for Superfund National Priorities List

Release Date: 04/08/2009
Contact Information: William Omohundro,312-353-8254,omohundro.william@epa.gov Susan Pastor, 312-353-1325, pastor.susan@epa.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 09-OPA 050

CHICAGO (April 8, 2009) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed adding the Amcast Industrial Corp. site in Cedarburg, Wis., to the Superfund National Priorities List of hazardous waste sites. Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex uncontrolled and abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country. A public comment period about the proposed listing ends June 8, 2009.

Two other sites in EPA Region 5 were proposed for the NPL: Lane Street Ground Water Contamination site, Elkhart, Ind., and the Little Scioto River site, Marion County, Ohio. Three previously proposed Region 5 sites were formally added to the NPL: East Chicago, Ind.'s U.S. Smelter and Lead Refinery site; the Behr Dayton Thermal System VOC Plume site in Dayton, Ohio; and the New Carlisle Landfill in New Carlisle, OH. Nationally, nine new sites were added to the NPL, bringing the total to 1,264, and 13 sites were proposed for addition to the list, bringing the total of proposed sites to 67. Under the NPL process, sites are first proposed and public comments considered before a determination is made to formally add a site to the list. The NPL is updated twice each year.

Amcast, at N39 W5789 Hamilton Road, was an automotive aluminum die-casting facility from 1939 to 2004, when the company filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11. PCB contamination from Amcast's operations polluted the plant property, and adjacent sewers, a pond in a nearby park, a retention pond, some nearby private properties and sediment in Cedar Creek. It may also have reached the Milwaukee River, a distance of five creek miles away.

Until now, Cedar Creek Superfund site encompassed both areas impacted by Amcast and Mercury Marine's now-demolished Plant 2 building (which also contributed PCB contamination to Cedar Creek). If added to the NPL, the Amcast site will be eligible for further analysis and development of cleanup options for the former plant site. EPA will work in partnership with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. See additional background and site documents for Amcast at https://www.epa.gov/region5/sites/cedarcreek/index.htm.

A 60-day comment period on the newly proposed NPL sites is under way. Links to the Federal Register notice, information on submitting comments, background on the NPL process and summaries of the sites newly added or proposed are at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm.