Proposed
Sites have been studied, and cleanup plans proposed.
Active
Cleanup facilities have not yet been completed.
Construction Completed
All the facilities necessary for cleanup have been built. They may need to be operated and maintained indefinitely.
Deleted
All cleanup efforts have been completed and the site removed from the National Priorities List.
A Nationwide Cleanup
Since Congress passed the Superfund law, many of the worst hazardous waste sites in the U.S. have either been cleaned up or brought under control. But hundreds more are works in progress—and 95 of them, says the EPA, may be exposing humans to dangerous levels of toxic chemicals. A depleted Superfund and shrinking appropriations from Congress have delayed cleanup at some sites. Related story: Wasteland »
By Anna Scalamogna, Jason Treat, and Xaquín G.V., NGM Staff; Meg Roosevelt. Sources: EPA; GAO
A growing list of sites ...
Of more than 47,000 waste sites, the EPA has put over 1,700 on the National Priorities List (NPL) since 1982. When polluters can’t be made to pay to clean them up, the Superfund pays.
with fewer federal resources ...
At first the Superfund was flush from taxes on oil and chemicals, but Congress let those expire in 1995. It’s now financed by the general fund—that is, by all taxpayers.
Balance of the superfund
Congressional appropriations
In 2013 dollars
and no end in sight
Leaky barrels can be removed, but contaminated land and groundwater remain. Most Superfund sites have been on the list for decades.
Deleted
Three out of four of the currently deleted sites spent more than ten years on the list.
Construction completed
On almost half of these sites, construction was completed more than 15 years ago.
Active
65 of these sites have been active since September 1983.
Proposed
Of the 52 currently proposed sites, almost half were listed in the 1990s.