Plant May Be Added to EPA’s Superfund List

The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday proposed adding a former chemical manufacturing plant in Maywood to the federal government’s priority list for cleaning hazardous waste sites, agency officials said.

An emergency cleanup is underway at the former Pemaco plant. But if the four-acre site makes it onto the federal Superfund National Priorities List, federal funds can be earmarked to complete the project if Pemaco fails to finish removing pollutants, officials said.

Soil and ground water at the site are contaminated with industrial solvents that could threaten drinking water in the area, said Rose Marie Caraway, project manager of the cleanup operation. Local officials have proposed converting the plant site into a park, she said.

An EPA spokeswoman said the site will probably make the federal list within a year.