Lower Neponset River Designated a Superfund Site

MARCH 14, 2022 - This morning the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formally announced that the Lower Neponset River will be added to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). This announcement follows years of advocacy by elected officials, including Representative Driscoll, conservation groups, and residents in Boston and Milton to designate the area as a Superfund site.

An EPA assessment of the area identified evidence of extensive PCB contamination of bottom sediments in this section of the Neponset River but concluded that there is not a clearly identifiable source of the contamination. Because neither the state or the river’s impacted municipalities have the resources to identify the source or to clean the sediments themselves, officially adding this site to the Superfund NPL is significant.

Listing this site to the Superfund NPL will bring substantially more federal resources to help address cleanup efforts and to further reduce the ecological risks posed by historic PCB contamination from former industrial sites.

Since taking office in 2017, Representative Driscoll has been a steadfast proponent of listing the Lower Neponset as a Superfund site. Over the years, Representative Driscoll has supported Milton's dredging efforts at Milton Landing, allocated funds for the town to explore redevelopment opportunities near the Landing, and in November 2021, he submitted a letter to the EPA urging they add the site to the NPL.

Of today’s announcement, Representative Driscoll said, “I am thrilled to see the Lower Neponset River officially designated as a Superfund site. Leaving contaminated sediments in place poses significant public health and safety risks to surrounding communities, including certain environmental justice neighborhoods in Milton. As the cleanup process gets underway, I turn my attention toward pushing for cleanup completion in a matter of years - not decades.”