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EPA Proposes To Delete Frontera Creek Superfund Site in Puerto Rico From The National List of Hazardous Waste Sites

Release Date: 07/29/1998
Contact Information:

(#98093) SAN JUAN, P.R. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency intends to delete the Frontera Creek Superfund site near Humacao, Puerto Rico, from the National Priorities List (NPL) of hazardous waste sites and is seeking public comment on this proposal. Federal Superfund cleanup activities have been completed at this site and post-cleanup monitoring shows that the threat to human health and the environment has been eliminated. Deletion of a site from the NPL does not make the site ineligible for later cleanup actions.

The site was added to the NPL in August 1983 after federal, commonwealth and industry investigations confirmed the presence of mercury in the sediments and surface waters of Frontera Creek where industrial wastewaters were discharged from 1971 to 1981. In February 1985, the Puerto Rico Department of Health found elevated levels of mercury in blood and urine samples from a number of residents in the Ciudad Cristiana housing development adjacent to Frontera Creek. As a result, the Governor ordered an evacuation of the residents from the development.

In 1991, EPA selected a remedy for the site that involved the excavation and off-site disposal of the mercury-contaminated soils and sediments. The parties responsible for the contamination, acting under Superfund enforcment orders, carried out all the cleanup measures by April 1995. EPA determined that these actions were successfully completed in September 1997.

EPA will hold a public availabity session on the proposal to delete the Frontera Creek Superfund site from the NPL on August 20, 1998 at the Humacao Town Hall, starting at 6PM during a public comment period that begins on July 30, 1998 and extends for 30 days. EPA experts will be at the session to answer any questions from concerned citizens.

Written comments must be postmarked no later than August 29, 1998. Comments on the Frontera Creek Superfund site should be addressed to: Luis Santos, Remedial Project Manager, USEPA, Region 2, Caribbean Environmental Protection Division, Centro Europa Building, Suite 417, 1492 Ponce de Leon Ave., Stop 22, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00907-4127.

Comprehensive information on the site is available for public review at the above address by appointment only. These documents can also be viewed at the Humacao Town Hall and the P.R. Environmental Quality Review Board, National Plaza Bank, 431 Ponce de Leon Avenue in Hato Rey.

For more information contact:
Carl Soderberg
EPA Caribbean Environmental Protection Division
1492 Ponce De Leon Avenue
Santurce, PR 00909
Voice: 787-729-6951 FAX: 787-729-7747 E-Mail: [email protected]