WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) addition of the Hockessin Groundwater Site in Hockessin, Delaware to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites, making its cleanup eligible for federal financial assistance.

“EPA’s Superfund program helps protect communities from the toxic legacy of past contamination of our land and water. I am pleased that Hockessin’s Groundwater Site, as well as Newark’s South Ground Water Plume, have been placed on the Superfund Program’s National Priorities List. These sites are now eligible for the full suite of federal technical and financial resources that will be needed to clean up groundwater contamination and ensure that these communities are protected.”

The Hockessin site consists of approximately 32 acres along Lancaster Pike (Route 41) through Hockessin, and encompasses numerous businesses, and commercial and residential properties. An assessment conducted by EPA and Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) has identified considerable movement of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) contamination in the groundwater in the village of Hockessin. PCE is a toxic chemical widely used in dry-cleaning and metal degreasing operations, exposure to which poses serious health risks.

On January 9, 2018, EPA added the Newark South Ground Water Plume Site to the National Priorities List of Superfund Sites.

 

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