PHILADELPHIA (Sept. 9, 2022) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it is adding the Georgetown North Groundwater site in Sussex County, Delaware, to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL is the list of hazardous waste sites in the United States eligible for cleanup, financed under the federal Superfund program.

“All people in this country, no matter the color of their skin, their zip code or income, deserve to live in communities free from harmful pollutants and contaminated lands,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. “By adding sites to the Superfund National Priorities List, we are accelerating cleanups and working to ensure that more people living near the nation’s most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination have the health and environmental protections they deserve.”

The Georgetown North Groundwater site is a groundwater plume – an area of groundwater that has been polluted with the solvent tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and its breakdown products. PCE, sometimes referred to as “perc”, is a chemical used in commercial and industrial operations such as dry cleaning.  EPA considers PCE as a likely cancer-causing chemical.  The area encompasses approximately one square-mile beneath commercial and residential areas within the town of Georgetown.  

“To be clear, the public drinking water in Georgetown meets state and federal standards after treatment,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz.  “Listing the site to the
NPL will enable us to continue working jointly to investigate and address the contamination to ensure   safe drinking water and protect people’s health in this community for years to come.”

The State of Delaware referred the site to EPA in 2016 for help in better understanding the extent of the groundwater contamination.  The State has agreed with EPA’s decision to add the Georgetown North Groundwater site to the NPL.  

 More information about the Site can be found at: www.epa.gov/superfund/georgetowngroundwater