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EPA Removes Crescent City, CA Site from Superund List

Release Date: 9/19/2002
Contact Information: Leo Kay

Site No Longer Threatens Public Health

     SAN FRANCISCO   With the cleanup complete, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has removed the Del Norte County Pesticide Storage Area Superfund Site northwest of Crescent City, Calif. from the national listing of federal Superfund sites.

     Today's announcement follows a 30-day public comment period that generated no responses.

     While this is just the sixth Superfund site deleted in California, 41 sites have construction completed and another 38 sites have construction underway.  There are 95 Superfund sites in California overall.

     "We have removed a public health threat, and now this site can be redeveloped for industrial uses," said Keith Takata, director of the EPA's Superfund program in San Francisco.  "We appreciate the community's patience and cooperation throughout the cleanup."

     The U.S. EPA named the one-acre Del Norte County Pesticide Storage Area Superfund Site as a  federal Superfund site in 1984.  Soil and groundwater at the site were contaminated with herbicides, pesticides and
volatile organic compounds.


     From 1970 through 1981, Del Norte County used the property just south of McNamara Field to store pesticide containers from local agricultural and forestry-related industries.  In 1981, the California Department of Health Services discovered that soil and groundwater at the site had become contaminated with herbicides, pesticides and volatile organic compounds.  Del Norte County's inability to pay for further site investigations led to the site being designated as a federal Superfund site, freeing up federal funding to pay for its cleanup.

     The EPA removed contaminated soil from the site in 1987, and operated a groundwater pump and treat system until 1997.  Ongiong monitoring shows that residual levels of contamination in the groundwater continue to steadily decrease.  

     The EPA has determined that the site no longer poses a threat to human health or the environment, and has required that Del Norte County continue to monitor the groundwater at the site. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control has agreed to take the role as lead agency and monitor the
county's work.  


     The EPA will continue to be involved, but to a lesser degree.  The EPA's primary responsibility will be to review data every five years to confirm that the remedy continues to be effective.  Should conditions at the site change, or in any way pose a threat to human health and the environment, the EPA would take the lead in determining an appropriate response.