EPA Completes Dededo Transfer Station Removal Action
DEDEDO, Guam – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has completed the removal of approximately 31,000 cubic yards of soil contaminated with heavy metals and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at the Dededo Transfer Station in Guam.
“This cleanup is a crucial element of EPA’s ongoing work, undertaken in close cooperation with our government partners in the Pacific Islands, to ensure toxins like lead and PCBs do not threaten human health or the environment,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Superfund and Emergency Management Director Mike Montgomery.
The Dededo Transfer Station is a 10-acre site northwest of Marine Corps Drive and Bartolu Street. Since beginning operations in 1984, Dededo has served as a waste transfer station, a typhoon debris staging area, and a site for household hazardous waste, garbage, disposed tires and private recycling operations.
Over the years, conditions at the site deteriorated significantly. Fencing around Dededo was in poor condition and signs of illegal dumping of wastes were present, indicating unauthorized access. Threats to human health and the environment included the risk of exposure to fine-grained, highly mobile, contaminated soils through inhalation/ingestion or direct contact, and the spread of contamination offsite.
In December 2016, the Guam Environmental Protection Agency (GEPA) formally requested EPA assistance to conduct a removal action at Dededo. Since 2016, EPA has worked closely with GEPA to identify, develop and carry out the cleanup.
EPA has now successfully completed removal of all contaminated soils from above ground areas and installed new fencing around the site to prevent future illegal dumping.
Background
In late 2019, EPA began assessment activities at Dededo and identified four waste piles that were contaminated with heavy metals and PCBs. During a cultural resources survey, additional contaminated waste piles that were overgrown with vegetation were discovered nearby.
In early 2024, EPA began separating large debris from the contaminated soils. EPA then treated, sampled, and disposed of the contaminated soils at regulated waste disposal facilities.
In total the cleanup effort cost $14.5 million with GEPA providing a portion of the funding.
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