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EPA removes portion of Naval Industrial Reserve Ordnance Plant in Fridley, Minn. from NPL

09/27/2018
Contact Information: 
Rachel Bassler (bassler.rachel@epa.gov)
312-886-7159

For Immediate Release: No. 18-OPA057

CHICAGO (Sept. 27, 2018) – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has deleted the former plating shop area at the Naval Industrial Reserve Ordnance Plant (NIROP) Superfund site in Fridley, Minn., from the National Priorities List (NPL). This marks the end of the soil cleanup at the Superfund site. Groundwater cleanup continues at the site. Since October 2017, EPA has deleted 18 sites and partially deleted four sites from the NPL. 

"EPA is making good on its commitment to pick up the pace of Superfund cleanups so the sites can be restored to productive use," said EPA Regional Administrator Cathy Stepp. "Promoting redevelopment is part of EPA's core mission and helps spur the local economy in communities near Superfund sites."

“We’ve been working on cleaning up this legacy pollution site since 1981, and we’re proud to see it all put to productive use again,” said Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner John Linc Stine. “Our goal is to get every contaminated site in the state restored; it’s a win for the environment, public health, real estate values, and the region’s economy.”

The U.S. Navy began producing advanced weapons systems at the site in the 1940’s. Operators disposed of large quantities of solvents, petroleum, paints, solvents and other chemical in pits and trenches on the site. Sampling in the early 1980s showed groundwater, surface water and soil contamination. In 1983, the U.S. Navy, EPA and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency began to clean up the site under a Federal Facilities Agreement. In 2014, a portion of the NIROP site was delisted, where redevelopment is expected to be complete by this winter.

Under the Trump Administration, the Superfund program has reemerged as a priority to fulfill and strengthen EPA’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment.

The NPL is a roster of the nation’s most contaminated sites that threaten human health or the environment. The sites on the list are eligible for cleanup under the Superfund program. EPA removes sites from the list once all the remedies are successfully implemented and no further cleanup is required to protect human health or the environment.

EPA proposed the partial deletion on July 17, 2018, and held a 30-day comment period. No comments were received. The final rule to delete the site can be found in docket EPA-HQ-SFUND-1989-0007-0053, accessed through https://regulations.gov.

To learn more about this site: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/naval-industrial-reserve.

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