Superfund

Atlantic Wood Industries, Elizabeth River Dredging 2016, Photo Credit: Hana Environmental

In 1980 the U.S. Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, also known as Superfund) to clean up serious hazardous waste sites that are placed on the National Priorities List. The National Priorities List (NPL) is the list of sites of national priority among the known releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants throughout the United States and its territories. The NPL is intended primarily to guide the EPA in determining which sites warrant further investigation. The US Environmental Protection Agency administers the Superfund program in Virginia, and the Department of Environmental Quality works closely with EPA to ensure state regulations are considered, Virginia's environment is protected, and the health of the Commonwealth's citizens is promoted. Cleaning up Superfund sites is a complex, multi-phase process. EPA provides additional information regarding the Superfund cleanup process. The table below lists all of the privately owned Superfund sites in Virginia.  Information regarding federally owned Superfund sites is available on the Federal Facilities webpage. EPA may delete a final NPL site (i.e. remove it from the NPL) if it determines that no further response is required to protect human health or the environment.

Information is available regarding Superfund success stories.

Individual Superfund Sites

Private sites on National Priorities List

EPA Lead

DEQ Lead

Sites deleted from National Priorities List

Team Members