Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Joe Manchin
Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today applauded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s decision to add Paden City, West Virginia, to its Superfund National Priorities List (NPL).
The Paden City site consists of co-mingled groundwater plumes containing hazardous substances. The groundwater and soils are contaminated with the solvent tetrachloroethylene (commonly referred as perchloroethylene or PCE) and its breakdown products which are commonly used in commercial and industrial operations such as dry cleaning. Three former dry cleaners may have contributed to the groundwater and soil contamination.
“For far too long, the residents of Paden City have been dealing with contaminated drinking water that has impacted their lives on a daily basis. The inclusion of Paden City on the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) is a step in the right direction to finding a permanent and long-term solution to the groundwater issues facing Paden City. I will continue working with Paden City, the EPA and state officials to clean up Paden City’s groundwater and fight to ensure all West Virginians have clean drinking water, no matter where they live,” said Senator Manchin.
“Being added to EPA’s NPL means Paden City can now rely on permanent federal funding to aid any contamination cleanup from PCE and help ensure better environmental and public health. It also means individualized attention and technical assistance from EPA,” Ranking Member Capito said. “I visited the Paden City water department last year and saw firsthand how hard their team works to provide safe, clean drinking water and reliable wastewater to the community. Today’s announcement can give Paden City residents peace of mind that any residual pollution in their community is being properly dealt with.”