Biden-Harris Administration announces new cleanup project in Texas as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda

 USEPA News Release:

Biden-Harris Administration announces new cleanup project in Texas as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda

DALLAS, TEXAS (February 28, 2024) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a site in Happy, Texas, will receive several million dollars from the third and final wave of more than $1 billion for cleanup projects across the country as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The new funding will go toward the North East 2nd Street National Priorities List site to install a system to remove contamination from the Ogallala Aquifer.

“After three rounds of investments, EPA is delivering on President Biden’s full promise to invest in cleaning up America’s most contaminated Superfund sites,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. “This final round of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding has made it possible for EPA to initiate clean ups at every single Superfund site where construction work is ready to begin. This is an incredible milestone in our efforts to clean up and protect communities, deliver local jobs, enhance economic activity, and improve people’s lives for years to come.”

“Funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is benefiting communities around the country, and now the community of Happy, Texas, will see progress on the North East 2^nd Street cleanup site,” said Regional Administrator Dr. Earthea Nance. “Installing the groundwater treatment system will also help restore and protect the Ogallala Aquifer, one of Texas’s most important water resources.”

Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding, the cleanup project at the North East 2^nd Street site will start. The new funding will be used to construct a pump-and-treat system to clean up contaminated groundwater in the Ogallala Aquifer, identified as a major aquifer in Texas. The site, near homes and schools, is a former grain storage facility that was destroyed by an explosion and fire in 1962. Firefighting activities released carbon tetrachloride (CTC), which can cause liver and kidney damage. Other contaminants found at the site include 1,2-dibromethane (EDB), 1,2-dichloroethane (DCA) and chloroform.

Thousands of contaminated sites exist nationally due to hazardous waste being dumped, left out in the open, or otherwise improperly managed. These sites can include toxic chemicals from manufacturing facilities, processing plants, landfills and mining, and can harm the health and well-being of local communities in urban and rural areas.

This investment is the final wave of funding from the $3.5 billion allocated for Superfund cleanup work in the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. So far, EPA has deployed more than $2 billion for cleanup activities at more than 150 Superfund National Priorities List sites. Thanks to President Biden’s commitment to addressing legacy pollution and improving public health, EPA has been able to provide as much funding for cleanup work in the past two years as it did in the previous five years while delivering on President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set a goal to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

EPA is committed to continuing to carry out this work advancing environmental justice and incorporating equity considerations into all aspects of the Superfund cleanup process. More than one in four Black and Hispanic Americans live within three miles of a Superfund site. These investments are restoring the health and economic vitality of communities that have been exposed to pervasive legacy pollution. Thus far, nearly 80% of the funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has gone to sites in communities with potential environmental justice concerns. Out of the 25 sites to receive funding for new cleanup projects, more than 75% are in communities with potential environmental justice concerns based on data from EJSCREEN.

The historic investment made by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law strengthens every part of the Superfund program, making a dramatic difference in EPA’s ability to tackle threats to human health and the environment. In addition to funding cleanup construction work, the investment is enabling EPA to increase funding for and accelerate essential work needed to prepare sites for construction and to ensure communities are meaningfully involved in the cleanup process. In 2023, EPA continued to fund Superfund pre-construction activities such as remedial investigations, feasibility studies, remedial designs, and community involvement at double pre-Bipartisan Infrastructure Law levels.

In 1980, Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERLCA), known as Superfund. The law gave EPA the authority and funds to hold polluters accountable for cleaning up the most contaminated sites across the country. When no viable responsible party is found or cannot afford the cleanup, EPA steps in to address risks to human health and the environment using funds appropriated by Congress, like the funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

To see a list of the 25 sites to receive funding for new cleanup projects, please visit our webpage.

To see highlights from the first two years of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding at Superfund sites, visit EPA’s Cleaning Up Superfund Sites: Highlights of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding website.

For more information about EPA’s Superfund program, visit EPA’s Superfund website.