EPA cuts New England Superfund list by one-third

BOSTON — The Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday removed 655 sites around New England from its Superfund list of contaminated properties in potential need of cleanup.

EPA officials said the move, which shrinks the number of parcels on the Superfund list in New England by one-third, was meant to attract new owners who were otherwise leery of building on the land.

Of the 655 deleted properties, 337 are in Massachusetts, 111 in Connecticut, 76 in Vermont, 69 in Maine, 34 in Rhode Island and 28 in New Hampshire.

The agency said it also would spend $1 million over the next two years helping New England communities attract developers to former waste sites.

“We need to spur economic development, not frustrate it,” said EPA regional administrator John DeVillars. “By removing the perceived threat of Superfund liability from these properties, we hope to correct a market distortion that has taken place over time.”

DeVillars and other federal officials said potential redevelopers of former waste sites were scared off by the Superfund designation, fearing that they would be held responsible for the cleanup.

“Hopefully, this is going to make it easier for reuse of that property,” said Don Smith, an EPA Superfund specialist. “That’s really the intention.”

Environmental activists agreed that Tuesday’s action was a signal to potential redevelopers, but said it may send the wrong message to polluters.

“Whenever you begin taking large numbers of parcels off the list wholesale, that sends a message, too, and it may send an unfortunate message to those who may have in the past been responsible for dump sites and those who may be polluting today,” said Paul Burns, an environmental attorney for the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group.

“There’s a significant deterrent effect that goes along with the Superfund listing, and that’s something that we would not like to lose.”

The sites that were deleted from the list were not contaminated enough to merit continued Superfund status under agency rules, according to the EPA.

Under the agency’s hazard ranking formula, sites are listed based on the degree of contamination and the threat to neighbors and the water supply. All the 655 properties deleted from the inventory scored below the cutoff for Superfund designation, agency officials said.