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These 6 Superfund sites in Florida are among 149 contaminated US military bases

There are 92 total Superfund sites in Sunshine State

Archive photo of U.S. Navy Naval Air Station Cecil Field. Courtesy of U.S. Defense Imagery via Wikimedia Commons

Six current and former military bases in Florida are marked as Superfund Sites by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Congress established the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) in 1980 with CERCLA being informally called “Superfund,” which allows the government to clean up toxic-waste sites.

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According to the EPA, Superfund’s goals are to protect human health by cleaning up contaminated sites, make responsible parties pay for cleanup, involve communities in the process and to return the sites to productive use.

The current or former military Superfund sites in Florida are (click on each site to learn more about the cleanup process):

According to The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative news organization, as of 2017, there were 149 current and former military bases across the U.S. that are so contaminated they are labeled Superfund sites.

In addition to the aforementioned military Superfund sites, there are several non-military Superfund sites across Central Florida, which include (click on each site to learn more about the status of each site’s cleanup status):

Orange County

CHEVRON CHEMICAL CO. (ORTHO DIVISION) in Orlando

CITY INDUSTRIES, INC. in Orlando

ORLANDO GASIFICATION PLANT in Orlando

ZELLWOOD GROUND WATER CONTAMINATION in Zellwood

Polk County

ALPHA CHEMICAL CORP. in Lakeland

CALLAWAY & SON DRUM SERVICE in Lake Alfred

LANDIA CHEMICAL COMPANY in Lakeland

Seminole County

GENERAL DYNAMICS LONGWOOD in Longwood

SANFORD GASIFICATION PLANT in Sanford

SANFORD DRY CLEANERS in Sanford

SPRAGUE ELECTRIC COMPANY in Longwood

Volusia County

SHERWOOD MEDICAL INDUSTRIES in DeLand

To see a list of all locations designated by the EPA as Superfund sites in Florida, click here.


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