Superfund: Toxic Oklahoma
What is Superfund
The Superfund toxic waste cleanup program was created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980.
The law granted the federal government the authority to clean up pollution that threatened human health. It also allowed the Environmental Protection Agency to identify responsible parties and force them to pay for the cleanup.
When responsible parties cannot be found, the agency cleans the sites.
Agency-funded cleanups were initially funded by a trust fund largely financed by a tax on energy companies.
That tax lapsed in 1995 and the fund has dwindled, meaning most cleanup money now comes from general revenues paid by taxpayers.
NewsOK.com and The Oklahoman has compiled information about each of Oklahoma's 13 Superfund sites and 1 proposed site. The above information in provided as a snapshot of the site. Please read the articles link in each site's profile to learn more about the projects.
The above points are approximate locations. Several of the sites span multiple addresses and cities. In those cases map points were placed in the general area of the site.
Superfund site
Superfund Site Information
The map to the left marks the 13 superfund sites in Oklahoma and the 1 proposed site.
Click on the to reveal information about the site including location, date the site was added to the national list, site overview information and details of waste at each site as well as articles from NewsOK and The Oklahoman.
If you notice an error with the information please send an email to webmaster@newsok.com.
Sources: Interviews and Environmental Protection Agency Reports
Superfund sites grow as money dwindles
After 30 years and more than $360 million in federal money, fewer than half of Oklahoma's most toxic areas have made it through the federal government's Superfund waste cleanup program.
Superfund is a program with seemingly endless litigation and heavy cost. It is receiving renewed focus nationwide as lawmakers and the government wrestles with how to pay for it. Superfund is facing declining revenues, slowed cleanup progress and 1,276 sites remaining on the National Priorities List – the nation's most hazardous contaminated areas.Superfund articles from NewsOK and The Oklahoman
October 10, 2010
The refinery was Cyril's biggest employer and, after it closed, most people either retired or took out-of-town jobs. Read More
October 10, 2010
CUSHING — Like an ode to its ominous name, Skull Creek smelled like something had died during the years the Hudson Creek Refinery was active.
“They would let stuff go down that creek, and it would smell like rotten eggs,” said Melvin Morris Sr., who has lived in a blue house across the street from the old... Read More
October 10, 2010
Land O'Lakes, the Minnesota-based company known for its butter, has spent the past year removing lead, arsenic, asbestos and other harmful materials that for more than 20 years have been sitting at an abandoned refinery site on the edge of Cushing. Read More
October 10, 2010
A family struggles through lead poisoning, a botched home buyout, and crushing A family struggles through lead poisoning, a botched home buyout, and crushing misfortune in the wake of the Tar Creek Superfund site. Read More
October 10, 2010
Superfund sites often face problems with redevelopment. Read More
October 10, 2010
Nationally, 23 sites were added to the Superfund list of the most hazardous contaminated sites. Only eight were cleared. Funding has has fallen since the end of a tax on energy companies. Read More
October 10, 2010
ARDMORE — The backhoes and the white Environmental Protection Agency mobile home are gone.
For the most part, the Imperial Refinery Company Superfund site in Ardmore is quiet now.
Though it is still on the National Priorities List, the Imperial Refinery site has reached the “construction complete”... Read More
Superfund Interactive and Graphics
Superfund Timeline
Site Cost Comparison
Related Content
- EPA Superfund Site List
- Tar Creek Ongoing Coverage
- Tar Creek: How the mines worked
- Tar Creek: Graphic cross section of the mines
- SLIDESHOW: Remembering Tar Creek
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