The Most Hazardous Contaminated Places and Where They Are

The Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp. is a 31-acre Superfund site on the west bank of the St. Johns River near the port area of Jacksonville. The site is where the company produced fertilizer and pesticides for 85 years until 1978. The EPA put the site on the Superfund list in 2010 because of tainted soil and groundwater but said the contaminated area does not pose a threat to those living and working at the site. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Tronox, the successor to Kerr-McGee, have taken action to shield people and the environment from contamination.

The DePue/New Jersey Zinc/Mobil Chemical Corp. site is located in DePue, Illinois, a town of about 1,800 people, located roughly 115 miles west of Chicago. The site contained a zinc smelting facility and a phosphate fertilizer plant has been located in the 950-acre area. It was determined that the area was contaminated with zinc, lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and copper. The Illinois EPA had been overseeing the cleanup of the site but has requested that the federal environment agency takes the lead role because of an impasse in talks with those responsible for the contamination, which include ExxonMobil.

The Eastland Woolen Mill made and dyed wool and blended woven fabrics until the 25-acre site in Corinna, Maine, closed in 1996. Corinna is 25 miles northwest of Bangor, Maine. The dyes were reported to contain biphenyl and chlorinated benzene, compounds the EPA considers hazardous. The federal EPA said that liquid waste was discharged to the ground surface underneath the mill buildings until 1977. Hazardous materials and the mill were removed from the site. About 10,000 pounds of contamination were removed from the soil. Cleanup and environmental monitoring efforts are continuing.

Southwest Jefferson County Mining is a Superfund site located about 37 miles southwest of St. Louis. Mining in Jefferson County’s northern region — also known as the Old Lead Belt — began in the early 1700s. Mine waste such as lead has contaminated soil, surface water, and groundwater. The EPA is supervising remediation efforts at the site. These efforts include excavation and disposal of tainted soil to reduce health and environmental risks.

The Superfund site Beede Waste Oil is located in Plaistow, New Hampshire, about 36 miles west of Manchester and 25 miles east of Nashua, New Hampshire’s two largest cities. The company operated a waste oil storage and recycling plant on its site from the 1920s to 1994. A tributary of the Little River flows near the border of the site, and the water is contaminated with waste oil. After the facility was closed, toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were found in the oil that was contained in the tanks and drums. Trucks began to transport tainted soil from the site starting in February 2013 and remediation is continuing.