A routine check-in is underway at Superfund sites in Burlington and Williston where toxic waste cleanups were completed some years ago, the federal Environmental Protection Agency announced.The five-year check-in is required by the federal government to make sure the cleanups worked. The EPA plans to examine the 38-acre Pine Street Canal site, often called Barge Canal, in Burlington, and the 1-acre Commerce Street Plume in Williston, to ensure that past cleanup efforts “continue to be protective of human health and the environment,” according to an EPA press release.
The Pine Street Canal review should be completed by December 2021 and the Commerce Street Plume review by October 2022. “These reviews are important because a lot of things can change post-construction,” said Dan Keefe, who manages Superfund cleanups in Maine, Vermont and Connecticut for the EPA. Storms and animals can have an effect on a particular property, and federal and state cleanup guidelines can change, Keefe said, so “it’s important to keep eyes on the ground.”
The five-year reviews involve a physical inspection; a review of site monitoring data, such as groundwater samples; and an evaluation to make sure the cleanup work still complies with current regulations. The EPA does not expect to find any issues in this routine check-in, Keefe said, though overall, about half of all sites that have gone through remediation need subsequent work.