Montgomery Superfund site won’t be added to EPA National Priorities List

Montgomery Capital City Plume Superfund Site map

A map of the Capital City Plume Superfund site in Montgomery, Ala. The EPA in 2020 withdrew a proposal to list the site on the National Priorities List.City of Montgomery

A site in downtown Montgomery where extensive soil and groundwater contamination was discovered more than 20 years ago will not be added to a list of the nation’s most polluted sites, after two decades of cleanup efforts led by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, local governments, and businesses.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency first proposed the site, called the Capital City Plume Superfund Site (or sometimes called Capitol City Plume), be added to the Agency’s National Priorities List in 2000 after soil and groundwater contamination was discovered in the early 1990s.

Cleanup and monitoring efforts at the site are still underway, but the decision from EPA means the site won’t be added to the NPL, a list of the most polluted sites in the country. NPL sites are prioritized to receive federal funding for cleanup and enforcement actions to force potentially responsible parties to pay for the cleanup.

This week, the agency formally withdrew that proposal, instead approving the plan adopted by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and several local businesses to finish cleaning up and monitoring the site.

“The announcement formally confirms that the EPA is satisfied with the remediation work and the oversight by ADEM and no longer considers the site a public health threat worthy of priority status," ADEM said in a news release announcing the decision.

ADEM Director Lance LeFleur said the decision by EPA to withdraw the proposal to list the site on the NPL showed that the federal agency was satisfied with the state’s remediation plan for the area.

“This is validation of all the hard work by many parties – city, county, state, federal and business entities – over many years to address and resolve a real environmental challenge,” LeFleur said in the news release. “It couldn’t have happened without all the parties deciding we needed a plan to tackle the problem and agreeing to work together to carry it out. Now, this area of downtown Montgomery that has already seen significant redevelopment and reuse can blossom even more.”

The site encompasses a 50-block area in downtown, including a number of prominent downtown buildings, including the RSA Tower and the city’s downtown baseball stadium.

The soil and groundwater at the site were found to contain potentially unsafe levels of chemicals such as dry cleaning solvents, cleaning agents and degreasers. ADEM says a chemical wholesaler, auto repair shops and dry cleaners were identified as possible sources of the pollution.

The groundwater contamination was first discovered in a city well in 1991, when the city identified tetrachloroethylene (PCE) in public water wells. Two wells were closed, with the city shifting to take its water from the Tallapoosa River upstream or from wells approximately eight miles south of downtown that were not affected by the plume.

Then, in 1993, construction on the RSA Energy Plant revealed additional soil and groundwater contamination with PCE. Crews removed contaminated soil from the site and have since planted trees to absorb the contaminants and installed vapor barriers in some buildings.

In 2012, the City of Montgomery, Montgomery County, the Montgomery Water Works and Sanitary Sewer Board, the State of Alabama, the Montgomery Advertiser, Standard Roofing of Montgomery and other businesses formed the Downtown Environmental Alliance. The Alliance worked with the EPA and ADEM to develop an action plan and agreement to address remaining remediation needs. It also agreed to reimburse the EPA for the costs of the federal agency’s involvement with the site.

ADEM, through an agreement with the EPA, has overseen site assessment and remediation since 2015. In July, ADEM recommended that the EPA withdraw its proposed listing of the site and the EPA submitted its proposed withdrawal this week.

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed said the decision will allow revitalization of the downtown area to continue.

“This announcement charts a path forward for our community and is essential to our vision for a stronger, more vibrant downtown core,” Reed said in the news release. “We commend the collaboration and steady resolve of the Alliance, ADEM, the EPA and everyone involved in doing what is right for our city and our region. Moving forward, we are committed to continue building on this success as we expand economic opportunity and progress in Montgomery.”

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