Superfund Season of Cleanup to Advance Restoration of Clean Land and Water Across the Pacific Southwest

Superfund Season of Cleanup to Advance Restoration of Clean Land and Water Across the Pacific Southwest

July 16, 2026

SAN FRANCISCO - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is excited to announce a huge season of construction starts for Superfund contaminated site cleanups across the Pacific Southwest. In total, approximately 8 million cubic yards of uncontrolled contaminated soil will be removed from communities through these cleanups. Over the next several months, EPA's Pacific Southwest Region (Region 9) will be celebrating this progress with the "Superfund Season of Cleanup" campaign.

These EPA Pacific Southwest Region efforts advance EPA's nationwide Superfund Solutions Initiative, which will accelerate cleanups of more than 1,340 Superfund sites on the National Priorities List (NPL) to deliver maximum human health and environmental protections.

"Residents should not be living in constant fear from contamination from these sites," said Michael Martucci, EPA Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. "These cleanups will advance human health through cleaner land and water for Americans and wildlife across the Pacific Southwest."

Construction will start on six Superfund site cleanups from July through Fall 2026:

Mid July - Northeast Church Rock, Eastern Agency, Navajo Nation (Arizona and New Mexico)

Late July -Lava Cap Mine, Nevada City and Grass Valley, CA

Early August - Argonaut Mine, Jackson, CA

August - Southern Avenue Industrial Area (SAIA), South Gate, CA

Late August - San Fernando Valley, Area 1, North Hollywood, CA

Fall 2026 - Sulphur Bank Mine, Clearlake Oaks, CA

In addition to these sites, cleanup will be starting at the Iron King Site in Dewey-Humboldt, AZ later this year.

The Northeast Church Rock Mine is a former uranium mine approximately 17 miles northeast of Gallup, NM in Navajo Nation. EPA is working with the Navajo Nation EPA and the State of New Mexico to oversee cleanup work to remove approximately 1 million cubic yards of uranium mine waste to a nearby engineered repository. Construction work is slated to start in mid-July 2026.

The Lava Cap Mine is a former hard rock gold and silver mine near Grass Valley and Nevada City, CA. Construction of a wetland-based system to treat contamination will start in late July. The system mostly uses gravity to route contaminated water through the wetland-based treatment system, minimizing costs, energy usage, and waste generation. A cap was constructed in 2006 to protect the community from encountering contamination from tailings and contaminated soil.

The Argonaut Mine Tailings Site is a former hard rock gold mine in Jackson, CA. This summer, EPA will remove soil from 39 residential properties and replace it with clean soil. This work will reduce local residents' exposure to heavy metals, including arsenic, lead, and mercury.

The Southern Avenue Industrial Area is a former hot-melt adhesive tape (for carpets) and screw manufacturing site in South Gate, CA. Cleanup work will include the removal of over 3,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil to prevent future exposure and future groundwater contamination. Removal work is expected to start in August.

The San Fernando Valley, Area 1, Site (North Hollywood Operable Unit) was established to address the contaminated drinking water aquifer under the City of Los Angeles. EPA has been working in cooperation with the City of Los Angeles and state regulators to start up two major treatment plants (North Hollywood West and North Hollywood Central). These systems will clean contamination from groundwater and provide up to 30,000 gallons per minute of drinking water to local residents starting in late July.

The Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine is a former underground and open pit mercury mine on the shoreline of Clear Lake in Clearlake Oaks, CA. A residential cleanup at 13 properties to remove around 6,000 cubic yards of waste and replace with clean soil begins this Fall. This effort will protect residents from underlying contamination. The next phases of the cleanup will excavate, consolidate and cover the 2.5 million tons of waste on the mine site, including removing the waste along the lake shore that contributes contamination to Clear Lake.

For more information about the EPA's Superfund Cleanup Program, please visit the EPA Superfund website.

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