Superfund sites are polluted locations in the United States requiring a long-term response to clean up hazardous material contaminations. Sites include landfills, mines, manufacturing facilities, processing plants where toxic waste has either been improperly managed or dumped. They were designated under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980. CERCLA authorized the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to create a list of such locations, which are placed on the National Priorities List (NPL).[1]
The NPL guides the EPA in "determining which sites warrant further investigation" for environmental remediation., there were 1,340 Superfund sites in the National Priorities List in the United States.[2] Thirty-nine additional sites have been proposed for entry on the list, and 457 sites have been cleaned up and removed from the list.[2] New Jersey, California, and Pennsylvania have the most sites.[3]