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Construction Completed at Naval Station Norfolk Superfund Site

Release Date: 11/01/2010
Contact Information: Roy Seneca seneca.roy@epa.gov (215)814-5567

PHILADELPHIA (November 1, 2010) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that the U.S. Navy has completed Superfund cleanup construction at the Naval Station Norfolk/Naval Support Activity Norfolk, culminating 27 years of investigation and remediation at the largest naval base in the world.

EPA considers construction completion as the most important Superfund milestone because it means that all physical construction of the cleanup remedies are complete, all immediate threats have been addressed and all long-term threats are under control.

“Getting to this point in the cleanup process required a team approach and a close working relationship among the Navy, EPA, and Virginia,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin. “Not only was assessment and cleanup considered in the process, but over the course of the cleanup, reuse of contaminated land to support the Navy mission was a top priority.”

Overall, the Navy spent more than $100 million on 170 locations known, or suspected to be contaminated throughout the facility. When the cleanup work began, there were locations covered with drums filled with tons of waste. Now, the land is available to support the Navy’s mission.

The Naval Station and Support Activity were added to the Superfund National Priorities List in 1997. Between 1997 and 2010, EPA, the Navy and the Virginia worked together to ensure that the cleanup was consistent with current Superfund and Department of Defense guidance. A risk assessment was performed for each of the 170 sites and where unacceptable risk to human health or the environment was found, action was taken. The last site on the base requiring cleanup was addressed this past August.

In September of 2010, EPA’s mid-Atlantic office, which includes Virginia, determined that both installations at this facility, had met the criteria for being added to EPA’s construction completion list. More information on the site is available at: https://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/super/sites/VA6170061463/index.htm .