Descriptions of Superfund Site Report Contents

POLLUTION LOCATOR|Superfund|Report Descriptions

Superfund Site Report Description

This report presents information about contamination at Superfund sites in the United States and potential health hazards for surrounding communities. Currently there are approximately 1,300 of these abandoned or uncontrolled toxic waste sites scheduled for cleanup on the National Priorities List (NPL). See Scorecard's overview of Superfund.
Data Source: Scorecard's profiles of Superfund sites are derived from multiple sources dating from 1993 to 2004. Primary sources include: NPL Fact Sheets maintained by EPA regions, and four EPA databases: the Superfund National Assessment Program (SNAP), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) database in Envirofacts; the Potentially Responsible Party (PRP) database; and the Remedial Program Managers (RPM) database.

Note: Scorecard's profiles of land contamination are compiled from a variety of U.S. EPA databases, but there is limited information about many potentially significant sources of contamination. Scorecard's profiles of Superfund sites are limited to final and proposed sites on the National Priority List, and are derived from multiple sources dating from 1993 to 2004. Numerous other sources of land contamination, such as state superfund sites, brownfields, nonhazardous waste disposal facilities, and other land contamination sources are not currently profiled because they are not tracked in national datasets.

Map Locating Superfund Sites
Scorecard maps Superfund sites at the national, state, county, and site level. At the site level, the map displays the actual shape of the contaminated area for the majority of sites. As you zoom out from the site level, counties and states are shaded best to worst based on the number of Superfund sites. As you scroll over counties and states with the mouse, a bar chart indicates the number of sites where drinking water wells have been contaminated.

Site Description
Scorecard indicates how far cleanup at a particular site has progressed to date. A narrative site history gives details about various aspects of contamination at a site, usually dating from the time of initial listing on the NPL, such as how contamination occurred, populations impacted, and actions taken by EPA to date. Sources of contamination are also provided for some sites.

Threats and Contaminants
Scorecard provides narrative descriptions of threats to public health from contaminants at Superfund sites, incorporating links to further information about the health effects of specific chemicals. Contaminants are also listed in a tabular format, indicating whether they were detected in ground water, surface water, air, soil, or other media (e.g., waste drums, debris). For some sites, Scorecard indicates whether drinking water wells were closed or threatened due to contamination from the site; the population served by the polluted wells; ground water uses; and whether the aquifer underneath or adjacent to the site discharges into drinking water sources, surface water, or sensitive ecological environments.

Public Health Hazard Assessment Information
Where available, Scorecard provides links to public health assessments conducted by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) at individual Superfund sites. Although the quality of ATSDR public health assessments varies, they are usually an important resource for gathering actual exposure information and for keeping communities informed about possible health effects from exposure to contaminants.

Pre-Cleanup Rankings
Scorecard ranks sites based on the hazard ranking scores assigned to a Superfund site in EPA's Hazard Ranking System (HRS), a screening tool used to prioritize sites for listing on the NPL. Thermometers display site scores on a scale of more hazardous to less hazardous among the universe of scored NPL sites, for pathways including ground water migration, surface water migration, air migration, soil exposure, and overall site score. Note that HRS scores are based on limited, pre-cleanup investigations and do not indicate current health or ecological risk.

Remedial Activity
Scorecard provides links to the cleanup remedies which have been selected for a site in EPA Record(s) of Decision (RODs), and to the most current information available on the progress of cleanup.

Site Information
Superfund site information includes all known names for the site; the address; the EPA ID; the date the site was proposed or made final on the NPL; site ownership; the CERCLIS site category; and the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes associated with current and past activities at the site.

Potentially Responsible Parties
Scorecard is the only online resource for names and addresses of Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) identified by EPA as associated with contamination at Superfund sites. For some sites, Scorecard is able to provide greater detail on the involvement of PRPs, such as how many contributed less than 1% of the waste at a site, and the number that are municipalities.

Take Action
If you are concerned about threats to public health and the environment from Superfund sites, Scorecard encourages you to take action. Contact the EPA regional office coordinating cleanup of a particular site. Join an on-line discussion about a Superfund site in your community. Or send an email to your U.S. Senators or Representatives about pending bills in Congress that threaten to weaken the Superfund program. Scorecard enables you to take action easily, for free, and with the facts you need in hand.

Links
Scorecard provides links to additional online resources on Superfund sites, and to reports profiling other pollution issues in your community.