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EPA Proposes $31 Million Plan for Contaminated Groundwater at Superfund Site

January 7, 2008

EPA has released a comprehensive cleanup plan for the trichloroethylene (TCE)-contaminated groundwater at the Moses Lake Wellfield Contamination Superfund site. The proposed cleanup is expected to cost about $31 million.

"This cleanup plan takes steps that will protect human health and the environment and restore groundwater quality," said Lori Cohen, EPA's associate director of the Office of Environmental Cleanup.

The site is located just north of Moses Lake in eastern Washington state and includes the Grant County Airport, the former Larson Air Force Base, and areas south of the airport. The groundwater and soils at the site were contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE) and other hazardous substances by operations of the former base and industrial activities associated with the aircraft industry.

Approximately 1000 acres of groundwater are contaminated with TCE above health based standards and several contaminated soil waste areas are scattered throughout the site. TCE is an industrial solvent that was commonly used at this site for stripping paint from airplanes, washing airplane parts and cleaning missile components.

The public comment period ends March 7. The proposed cleanup plan is available at http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/cleanup.nsf/sites/moses.

Opinion

Will EPA be Forced to Issue a Climate Change Endangerment Finding?

On April 2, 2008, exactly one year after the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, 12 states, supported by an additional five states as amicus curiae, as well as the District of Columbia, the cities of New York and Baltimore, and a number of environmental organizations, filed a petition for mandamus with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit seeking to compel the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to act on remand within 60 days.

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