PADEN CITY — A Wetzel County groundwater site could soon be added to a list of places where remedial cleanup is funded by federal dollars.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed adding the Paden City Groundwater site in Paden City to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL is the list of hazardous waste sites in the United States eligible for remedial cleanup action financed under the federal Superfund program.
The state of West Virginia referred the site to EPA to assist in characterizing the extent and impact of the groundwater contamination. The site consists of co-mingled groundwater plumes containing hazardous substances.
The groundwater and soils are contaminated with the solvent tetrachloroethylene (commonly referred to 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.
“If finalized, today’s proposed listing will enable us to continue our joint work, to investigate and remediate the contamination in Paden City,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Acting Regional Administrator Diana Esher. “While Paden City has successfully treated the water supply, additional cleanup of the groundwater will maintain safe drinking water and protect human health and the environment in this community for many years to come.”
Paden City’s public water source is groundwater. PCE was detected in the groundwater samples collected from the aquifer. There are two active municipal wells in that area that are contaminated above EPA’s drinking water standards for PCE.
There will be a 60-day comment period from Sept. 9 through Nov. 8 for the public to comment on the proposed listing.
Paden City’s new water treatment plant was placed online in May 2020, and the drinking water currently meets state and federal drinking water standards.
“I’m glad to see the Paden City … groundwater site proposed for EPA’s Superfund list to clean up contaminated land,” U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said. “I hope EPA will move forward with adding the site to the list quickly to clean up this contamination and protect West Virginians.”
“This designation would move Paden City toward qualifying for federal funding for long-term projects to clean up the polluted water,” Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said. “I will continue to work with the EPA to help clean up Paden City’s groundwater and fight to ensure all West Virginians have access to clean drinking water.”
If, after the formal comment period, the site still qualifies for cleanup under Superfund, the agency will publish a final rule in the Federal Register and Paden City Groundwater will become a Superfund site. EPA then conducts a more comprehensive investigation of the site, called a remedial investigation/feasibility study.