Red, White, and Deadly: 8 of the Worst American Superfund Sites

A still-active wood processing facility, Taylor Lumber and Treating made the list because of groundwater contamination. The Oregon site leaked wood-treating chemicals such as arsenic and pentachlorophenol, which have now been contained by an underground barrier wall.

The EPA filters the contaminated ground water through a treatment system before releasing it to the South Yamhill River. Physical cleanup at the site has already finished: in the past few years, 5,000 tons of contaminated soil was moved and taken to a hazardous waste landfill, roadside ditches were cleaned and restored, and monitoring wells were closed.

Photo: Google Earth

This Garden State sore spot closed in 1980, but during its time, it collected not only municipal waste but also industrial waste filled with paint, heavy metals, hospital wastes.

An underground fire in 1981 burned for about two months, emitting “noxious fumes.” In 1983, air samples showed high levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and soil was polluted with heavy metals such as cadmium and lead. Since then, the site has been cleaned up and construction completed.

Photo: Pool/Getty Images

Lipari Landfill, though only six acres, created major problems in New Jersey. While it was open from 1958 to 1971, the landfill accepted about three million gallons of liquid wastes (and 12,000 cubic yards of solid waste), including paints and thinners, formaldehyde and much more. Toxins seeped into nearby marshlands, streams and a lake, which closed for recreational use. Wildlife in the area may have been harmed, as well as humans who trespassed to swim in the lake or fished there, according to the EPA. About 128,000 tons of soil from the marsh was excavated and the area was filled with clean soil; the lake also reopened in 1995. The site is still under construction.

Photo: U.S Army Corp Engineers/Creative Commons via Flickr

The worst Superfund site on our list: a heavy mining site in Missouri. Also part of the “Old Lead Belt,” Big River Mine Tailings/St. Joe Minerals Corp. was used to dispose of lead mine tailings, or waste, from 1929 to 1958. The EPA learned about the site about 20 years later, after 50,000 cubic yards of tailings—which contain lead, cadmium, zinc—had fallen into the Big River during heavy rains.

The state has found elevated levels of lead in fish downstream of the site, and that dust created by wind erosion is laced with metals and potentially hazardous. And most of all, a 1997 study indicated that 17 percent of kids under the age of seven had blood-lead concentrations that were higher than acceptable health levels. Since the EPA has started cleaning up the area, the rate has dropped to 2.6 percent as of 2009.

Photo: Ken Lucas/Getty Images