EPA to Review Cleanups at Nine Minnesota Superfund Sites This Year

EPA to Review Cleanups at Nine Minnesota Superfund Sites This Year

March 11, 2026

CHICAGO (March 11, 2026) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will conduct comprehensive reviews of cleanup work at nine National Priorities List Superfund sites across Minnesota this year.

Each individual site will undergo a five-year review to ensure ongoing or completed remediation efforts continue to protect public health and the environment. Upon completion of the review, a report will be available online on each site's website.

"As required by the Superfund law, five-year reviews are a critical checkpoint to verify that completed cleanups are still doing their job-protecting people, drinking water, and ecosystems-and to course-correct if new data or site conditions warrant action," said EPA Region 5 Administrator Anne Vogel. "We will conduct these reviews transparently and share the results so residents can be assured that EPA is maintaining strong, science-based oversight."

This year, EPA will conduct five-year reviews for the sites listed below. The web links provided include detailed information on the status of each site, previous assessments and cleanup activities.

Five-year reviews of Minnesota Superfund sites starting in 2026:

South Andover Site(Andover)

Waste Disposal Engineering(Andover)

Burlington Northern (Brainerd/Baxter Plant)(Brainerd/Baxter)

Dakhue Sanitary Landfill(Cannon Falls)

East Bethel Demolition Landfill(East Bethel Township)

Arrowhead Refinery Co.(Hermantown)

Lehillier/Mankato(Lehillier)

Perham Arsenic Site(Perham)

Reilly Tar & Chemical Corp. (St. Louis Park Plant)(St. Louis Park)

Why this Matters:

Five-year reviews generally are required when hazardous substances remain on site above levels that permit unlimited use and unrestricted exposure. The reviews provide an opportunity to evaluate the implementation and performance of a remedy to determine whether it remains protective of human health and the environment. EPA retains responsibility for determining the protectiveness of the remedy.

More information:

The Superfund program, a federal program established by Congress in 1980, investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled, or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country and EPA endeavors to facilitate activities to return them to productive use.

Learn more about the Superfund program at EPA's Superfund program website.

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