EJScreen Indicators Overview – Superfund Proximity

What is the Superfund proximity indicator?

The “Superfund proximity indicator” measures how close people might live to sites listed on the National Priorities List (NPL). EJScreen presents Superfund proximity using percentile rank, ranging from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest) with higher scores representing closer proximities.

Why is Superfund proximity important?

• The EPA Superfund program is responsible for cleaning up some of the nation’s most contaminated land, air, water, and groundwater and responding to environmental emergencies, oil spills, and natural disasters. The program develops a National Priorities List (NPL) primarily to guide the EPA in determining which sites warrant further investigation.
• NPL sites can expose people to danger in various ways. Some volatile contaminants can turn into gases that we might breathe in. In dry areas or seasons, pollutants on the ground can become dust and get into the air, either directly inhaled or settling on surfaces we touch. They can also land on farmland and get into the food we eat. Some pollutants seep into groundwater, which can end up in our drinking water or even seep into buildings.

How does EJScreen create the Superfund proximity indicator?

• The Superfund proximity indicator is based on the total count of sites proposed and listed on the NPL in each census block group within 5 km of the average resident (or the closest within 10 km), divided by distance, and calculated as the population-weighted average of blocks in each block group. The count excludes sites that have been deleted from the NPL.
• Final and proposed NPL sites are downloaded from the Superfund Enterprise Management System (SEMS) website. NPL site polygons are used when available, and when not available, point locations are used. NPL site polygons are taken from data.gov.
• For technical details on the calculations and source data, visit the EJScreen Technical Documentation.

Moving Forward – What You Can Do

• Learn about the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, also known as CERCLA or Superfund.
  • Superfund Overview
  • Cleanup Process
  • Superfund Alternative Approach
• Get involved and get support through the EPA’s Superfund Community Involvement Program.
  • Environmental Justice and Superfund
  • Success Stories
• Search for Superfund sites where you live.
• View mapped data highlighting current cleanup work at Superfund sites throughout the country on the EPA’s Superfund Enforcement Cleanup Work Map.
• Get more information on active and archived sites in the EPA Superfund Enterprise Management System National Priorities List and Superfund Alternative Approach sites have web profiles with extensive detail about the EPA’s activities.
• Visit the Superfund Human Exposure Dashboard to view the status of the EPA’s site-wide Human Exposure environmental indicator for each Superfund National Priorities List and Superfund Alternative Approach site. Human Exposure is one of the metrics the EPA uses to communicate its progress in cleaning up Superfund sites