Olin Superfund Cleanup Advances with Proposal

WILMINGTON, Mass. – Rep. Seth Moulton announced today that the US Environmental Protection Agency has put forward a plan to clean up the Olin Chemical Superfund Site in Wilmington. The announcement follows an April release, citing that the Superfund site was on the Administrator’s Emphasis List, which captures the top of the EPA’s to-do list.

The EPA noted several of the project components, such as constructing new groundwater extraction and treatment systems, treating oily waste currently in the groundwater, and conducting reviews every 5 years to ensure the cleanup worked.

Moulton rallied state and local leaders and the community’s business owners to prime the area for redevelopment.

“Cleaning up our environment creates jobs and improves our cities and towns—not to mention leaving a healthier planet for our kids. Wilmington will be safer and healthier, and its economy will be stronger, when the Olin Site is restored,” Moulton said. “We got this designation thanks to the strong cooperation between local businesses and leaders at every level--clearly the EPA saw the united front within our community to fix this problem.”

After Moulton’s advocacy, the EPA added the Olin Chemical Superfund site to its Administrator’s Emphasis with “the goal of expediting the selection of a remedy to remediate soil, surface water, and areas of highest ground contamination” on April 1, 2019. Since the list’s inception, 15 cites across the country have been added and successfully removed from the list. The EPA’s full press release can be found here.

This latest EPA proposal cites that the 50-acre project will cost an estimated $48 million. The project, aimed at cleaning up the site of a former chemical supplier for the rubber and plastics industry, will also include a public 30-day comment period from August 26, 2020 through September 25, 2020. Those wishing to submit a comment can attend a virtual meeting on August 25, 2020 from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. by preregistering here.

More details from the EPA are available here.

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