New Bedford Harbor Superfund Site

摘要

The 18,000-acre New Bedford site was an urban tidal estuary with sediments which are highly contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), heavy metals, lead, chromium, copper, and cadmium. Manufacturers from the Aerovox Mill Building used PCBs while producing electric devices from 1940 to the late 1970s, when the use of PCBs was banned by the EPA. These facilities discharged industrial wastes containing PCBs directly into the harbor and indirectly via the city's sewerage system. The site was placed on the National Priorities List in 1982. As a result, the harbor was contaminated in varying degrees for at least 6 miles, from the upper Acushnet River into Buzzards Bay. Bio-accumulation of PCBs within the marine food chain resulted in closing the area to lobstering and fishing, and recreational activities and harbor development have been limited by the widespread PCB problem.