Many people, myself included, don't know what a Superfund Site is. Basically, I found out that it is a government program to clean up the nation's uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. I was reading about a rare blood cancer issue going on in a small region in Pennsylvania, and came across this term. These sites can be found by government officials or just by citizens, like you and I. We just have to inform the EPA, if we know of a place that doesn't smell right, looks filthy, etc. The Government analyzes the site and if it has hazardous material contaminating it's surroundings, they classify it as a Superfund Site. Once this is done, they follow up with cleanup and make it livable and safe for humans again. There are, of course, many Superfund Sites whose residents surrounding them have stated that they have not been cleaned properly and still have contaminants leaking out to the environment. This occurs even when the Government has supposedly cleaned them up.
The government has made it easy for us to find out if a Superfund Site is near where we live. I went to the EPA site and selected my State. I did not know the particular region or any other information, so I just clicked search. To my surprise there were 75 sites in my State. Fortunately, none were near where I live.
If you are interested in finding out if your area has Superfund Sites, just go to this link: SuperFund Site Information.
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