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What is a Superfund Site?

by | EPA RCRA

Abandoned site with blue dumpsters.

What is a Superfund Site?

A Superfund site is a location in the United States that has been contaminated by hazardous waste and has been identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as needing cleanup because the contamination poses a risk to human health or the environment.

These sites can be:

  • Abandoned factories

  • Landfills

  • Mining sites

  • Military bases

  • Industrial areas

  • Anywhere hazardous chemicals have been dumped, spilled, or left out

Why “Superfund”?

The term “Superfund” comes from a law passed by the U.S. Congress in 1980 called the:

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)

This law was created in response to several environmental disasters in the 1970s, especially the Love Canal crisis in New York, where a neighborhood was built on top of a toxic chemical dump, leading to widespread health problems.

CERCLA created a trust fund (the “super fund”) to pay for the cleanup of these dangerous sites when:

The polluters can’t be found,

The polluters are out of business,

Or they simply refuse to pay.

What Does the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Do?

The EPA is a U.S. federal agency responsible for enforcing environmental laws. Under Superfund, the EPA:

Investigates potentially contaminated sites.

Assesses risks to people and the environment.

Prioritizes sites based on the level of danger (using a scoring system called the Hazard Ranking System).

Lists the site on the National Priorities List (NPL) if it’s serious enough.

Oversees cleanup efforts, either by:

    • Forcing the responsible parties to clean it up themselves (or pay for it),

    • Or using federal Superfund money to do the work.

How Does Cleanup Work?

Once a site is on the National Priorities List:

  • EPA conducts detailed studies to determine how best to clean it up.

  • Cleanup may include removing soil, treating groundwater, sealing off hazardous areas, or long-term monitoring.

  • Local communities are involved in the planning process.

  • Cleanups can take years or even decades.

Who Pays?

  • Ideally, the “responsible parties” (usually companies or individuals who caused the pollution) are held legally and financially liable.

  • If they can’t be found or don’t have the money, the EPA taps into the Superfund trust fund, which was originally financed by a tax on chemical and petroleum industries.

  • As of recent years, Congress has reauthorized some of those taxes to replenish the fund.

Why It Matters

Superfund sites can expose people to toxic chemicals through:

  • Drinking contaminated water

  • Breathing polluted air

  • Contact with toxic soil or water

These exposures can cause cancer, birth defects, nervous system problems, and other serious health issues.

Cleaning them up helps:

  • Protect public health

  • Restore the environment

  • Revitalize local economies (e.g., turning old sites into parks or new developments)