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EPA to hold public meeting Dec. 5 on proposal of Blades Groundwater to National Priorities List

DNREC and Delaware’s Division of Public Health will participate

PHILADELPHIA (Nov. 7, 2019) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with support from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), will hold a public meeting on the proposed listing of the Blades Groundwater Site to the National Priorities List (NPL) on Dec.5, at 6:30 p.m. at Blades Fire Hall, 200 E 5^th Street, Blades, Delaware.

The NPL is EPA’s list of sites eligible for remedial action financed under the federal Superfund program.  If finalized, the listing will allow EPA to use Superfund authority and resources to work with DNREC to identify the sources of contamination and help resolve the groundwater concerns in the Blades area.

“Superfund cleanup in our communities continues to be a priority at EPA as we work to create a safer and healthier environment,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio. “This public meeting provides Blades-area residents a valuable opportunity to learn about the site and to provide comments on the proposed NPL listing.”

The site is being proposed because industrial chemicals which can cause adverse human health effects have been found in groundwater that is used as a source of drinking water.  The primary groundwater contaminants of concern in the Blades area are metals associated with electroplating compounds.  Perfluorooctanesulfonic Acid (PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) have also been found in groundwater and were identified in eight residential and three public supply wells.

At the Dec. 5 meeting, EPA will discuss the proposed listing of the site to the NPL. Representatives from the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the Delaware Division of Public Health will join EPA and DNREC to answer health-related questions.

EPA will publish a notice in the Federal Register on Nov. 8 which will open a public comment period on the proposed listing that will run through Jan. 7, 2020. Comments can be submitted online at http://www.regulations.gov, or by visiting EPA's Current NPL Updates: New Proposed NPL Sites and New NPL Sites web page.  Scroll down to the site for which you would like to submit comments and click the “Comment Now” link.

Comments may also be sent by mail to:

US EPA Docket Center
NPL Notice of Proposed Blades Groundwater Site
Docket ID # EPA-HQ-OLEM-2019-0484
Mail Code 28221T
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C.  20460

For residents with questions regarding the proposed listing, visit  EPA's web page on the Blades Groundwater site at www.epa.govhttps://www.epa.gov/superfund/bladesgroundwater or contact EPA community involvement coordinator Amanda Miles at 215-814-5557, or by email at: miles.amanda@epa.gov.