(AGENPARL) – ven 13 dicembre 2024 Issued: Dec 13, 2024 (11:00am EST)
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EPA adds Upper Columbia River site to the Superfund National Priorities List
to protect public health from metals contamination
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency added the Upper Columbia River
Site in northeast Washington to the Superfund National Priorities List, the
list of sites throughout the United States and its territories where
historic releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants pose
significant threats to human health and the environment.
EPA has determined that soils within the site are contaminated with lead and
arsenic and pose an unacceptable risk to residents at affected properties,
particularly to children and women of childbearing age. Additionally,
sediments in the river are contaminated with metals, including zinc, copper,
cadmium, selenium, lead and mercury, that pose a risk to fish, wildlife,
birds, and other organisms that live in and along the river. 
The primary source of contamination at the site is the Teck Metals Ltd.
smelting facility in Trail, British Columbia, approximately 10 river miles
upstream of the international boundary. The former Le Roi smelter in
Northport, Washington, also contributed contamination.
“Adding the Upper Columbia River to the EPA’s National Priorities
List is another example of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to
protecting public health in all communities, especially those already
overburdened by pollution,” said Cliff Villa, Deputy Assistant
Administrator for EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency
Management. “Cleaning up contaminated land and rivers is a win-win-win for
our environment, for public health, and for the economy. Every child
deserves the opportunity to play in neighborhoods and backyards that are
safe and free of harmful levels of lead contamination.”
“With the Upper Columbia River Site finally on the Superfund List, EPA can
now more comprehensively address long public health and environmental risks
posed by over 100 years of mining-related pollution,” said Casey Sixkiller,
Regional Administrator of EPA’s Region 10 office in Seattle. “This work
will continue to be critical for the people and communities who deserve
cleaner and healthier places to live, work, and play.”
 “EPA’s decision to list the Upper Columbia River Site on the National
Priorities List will strengthen and boost our collective efforts to address a
legacy of contamination at the site,” said Washington Governor Jay
Inslee. “By unlocking additional federal resources, this move will help
ensure that this part of our state is home to a thriving economy and ecosystem
for generations to come.”
“The Colville Tribes is pleased to hear that the EPA has listed the Upper
Columbia River as a Superfund site,” said Jarred-Michael Erickson, the
Chairman of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. “The river
has been used for decades as a waste disposal site and that pollution not
only damaged the physical river, but has also cost the Tribes enormously in
terms of lost use and enjoyment of the river. Past leaders and staff of the
Colville Tribes initiated and sustained the work of cleaning up the river, and
today the Colville Tribes has been in litigation with Canadian company Teck
Resources Limited for over 20 years to make them take responsibility for
remediation of the river under United States environmental law and for damages
to natural resources. While that litigation continues, a Superfund listing
will unlock access to funds necessary for a thorough remediation of the river,
and the listing reflects the high priority for cleanup that this site
deserves. Everyone is better served if we clean the river now rather than pass
the problem on to future generations.”
“The Spokane Tribe supports EPA acting now to place the Site on the
NPL,” said Gregory Abrahamson, Chairman of the Spokane Tribal Business
Council.  “The Upper Columbia River site includes areas within the Spokane
Tribe’s traditional homeland and current Spokane Reservation whose natural
resources have been and continue to be integral to our subsistence and culture
since time immemorial. Historic and ongoing releases of hazardous substances
to the site threaten or directly affect the health and welfare of our members,
our economic security, and the Spokane Tribe’s political integrity. 
Assessing the nature and extent of such contamination and any associated risks
it poses to tribal health and resources is as imperative today as it was in
2003, when the Spokane Tribe first supported EPA’s proposed placement of the
site on the NPL. Nearly 20 years later, the RI/FS process is ongoing, and we
urge EPA to further investigations of downstream river areas proximate to the
Spokane Reservation.  We remain acutely concerned that many more generations
of the Spokane people must endure uncertainty about Site conditions and risks
due to the presence of hazardous substances. Listing will also allow funding
for EPA to better characterize the nature and extent of risks posed by
hazardous substances at the Site, particularly in the downriver reservoir
areas proximate to the Spokane Reservation, and to fund participation in the
remedial process by affected state and tribal governments – including the
Spokane Tribe – if Teck refuses to fund them.”
Following the March 5, 2024, proposed listing, the agency opened a 60-day
public comment period which closed May 6, 2024. EPA’s response to public
comments will be published with the FR notice finalizing the addition of the
Upper Columbia River Site to the NPL and may be found at regulations.gov.
Background   
The NPL includes sites with the nation’s most serious uncontrolled or
abandoned releases of contamination. This list serves as the basis for
prioritizing EPA Superfund cleanup funding and enforcement actions. Only
releases at non-federal sites included on the NPL are eligible to receive
federal funding for long-term, permanent cleanup.  
Before EPA adds a site to the NPL, a site must meet EPA’s requirements and
be proposed for addition to the list in the Federal Register, subject to a
60-day public comment period. EPA may add the site to the NPL if it continues
to meet the listing requirements after the public comment period closes and
the agency has taken all public comments into consideration. 
Superfund cleanups provide health and economic benefits to communities. The
program is credited for significant reductions in both birth defects and
blood-lead levels among children living near sites, and research has shown
residential property values increase up to 24 percent within three miles of
sites after cleanup. 
Learn more about Superfund and the National Priorities List. 
For Federal Register notices and supporting documents for the NPL and
proposed sites, please visit: New Proposed and New Superfund National
Priorities List Sites.
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