The feds added a Lake Ontario tributary to the dubious federal Superfund List because of toxic chemicals flowing through it.
The waterfall at Eighteen Mile Creek, just south of Buffalo, N.Y. Photo: buffalo.edu
The EPA added Eighteen Mile Creek in Niagara County, N.Y., to the Superfund National Priorities List on Tuesday because it has polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), heavy metals and dioxins, which are all dangerous chemicals that hurt people and wildlife.
Sites on the list are the country’s most hazardous, according to the federal agency. A portion of the creek was already designated a Great Lakes Area of Concern.
The creek has a history of contamination, but specific sources haven’t been identified. The feds blame a mix of industry, stormwater and sewage discharges and hazardous waste sites that line the creek. As part of Superfund cleanups, officials try to pinpoint where pollution came from and then make the polluters pay for it, or clean it up themselves. If the investigation is fruitless, tax dollars are used.
The Superfund title makes the creek eligible for long-term cleanup funds. Since 1983, there have been 1,661 Superfund sites, of which 359 have been cleaned up, leaving 1,302 still on the list.
The EPA proposed ten new sites Tuesday, with Eighteen Mile Creek the lone Great Lakes basin representative.
The creek travels about 15 miles before it dumps into Lake Ontario at Olcott Harbor.