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$5-10 million in Recovery Act funds added to cleanup at Elizabeth Mine Superfund Site in Stafford, Vt.

Release Date: 04/15/2009
Contact Information: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017

(Boston, Mass. – April 15, 2009) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced $5-10 million in new funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for the Elizabeth Mine Superfund site near Stafford, Vt. The money will accelerate the hazardous waste clean-up already underway at the site. It will also jumpstart the local economy by creating jobs in the area. This Recovery Act funding is part of the $600 million that Congress appropriated to the Federal Superfund remedial program.

“EPA has an answer to these challenging economic times,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Under the Recovery Act, we're getting harmful pollutants and dangerous chemicals out of these communities and putting jobs and investment back in.”

This funding will enable EPA to begin the final phase of the Non-Time Critical Removal Action, eliminating the acid rock drainage from the waste piles and greatly reduce the leachate generated by the tailing impoundments. The final phase is a three to four year project, a portion of which will be funded via the Recovery Act, allowing EPA to begin and complete this work sooner than planned, which will shorten the time period to see an improvement of water quality.

“This Recovery Act funding will be a real boost for Stafford as we are able to speed up the clean up of the Elizabeth Mine Site,” said Ira Leighton, acting regional administrator of EPA's New England office. “The infusion of extra clean up money will provide real dividends to the community with a cleaner environment and good-paying jobs.”

The Federal Superfund program was created in 1980 to clean up uncontrolled hazardous waste sites that pose unacceptable risks to human health and the environment. Superfund sites are often found in industrial areas hardest hit by the recession. Superfund cleanups are major construction projects which employ thousands of workers nationwide. The Superfund program is implementing new or expanded cleanup actions at 50 sites around the country and since it began, the program has completed construction of remedies at more than 1,060 of the 1,586 sites on its National Priorities List.

By starting or speeding up cleanup at Superfund sites, Recovery Act funding is also increasing the speed with which these sites are returned to productive use. When a Superfund site is redeveloped, it can offer significant economic benefits to local communities including future job creation.

President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on February 17, 2009 and has directed the Recovery Act be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability. To that end, the American people can see how every dollar is being invested at www.Recovery.gov.

For more information on the Elizabeth Mine Superfund Site, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/region1/superfund/sites/elizmine

For more information on the Superfund program, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/

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