Superfund Section

The Division of Waste Management’s Superfund Section investigates, prioritizes, monitors and remediates uncontrolled and unregulated hazardous substance and waste disposal sites in North Carolina. Three branches of the Superfund section cleanup sites seek compliance by responsible parties and respond to emergency threats using both state and federal authorities:

• The state-funded Inactive Hazardous Sites Branch addresses contamination at more than 2000 chemical spill or disposal sites and 676 landfills that operated prior to the 1982 institution of state permit requirements, under authority of the North Carolina Inactive Hazardous Sites Response Act (NC General Statute §130A-310 et seq);

• The Special Remediation Branch addresses contamination at dry cleaner sites, under the Dry-cleaning Solvent Cleanup Act of 1997 (NC General Statute §130A-310 et seq) and its amendments, funded by receipts from taxes on dry-cleaning services and on dry-cleaning solvents. The branch also oversees voluntary cleanups through the Manufactured Gas Plant Initiative.  

• The Federal Remediation Branch works cooperatively with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement the federal Superfund program under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA). The section helps EPA apply their resources on sites with the most severe contamination, and on those needing immediate emergency actions, while working to identify those few sites where federal enforcement authority will be appropriate. 

All three branches integrate their programs with the federal cleanup programs and with local governments to avoid redundancy, to share resources, to encourage voluntary cleanups by responsible parties and to choose the most effective, timely and cost efficient approach to site cleanup. What does the Superfund section do?

• Identify, monitor and communicate the risks and locations of more than 4,000 chemical spill or disposal sites;
• Make the most efficient use of public resources to prevent exposure to dangerous chemicals and conduct cleanups at the most dangerous sites;
• Work toward finding state and federal cleanup solutions that are effective, efficient and responsive to communities in North Carolina;   
• Fund and arrange for alternative drinking water sources to residents with contaminated wells which in some cases may be limited to low-income; and
• Simplify the cleanup process for responsible parties through our voluntary cleanup agreements and the Registered Environmental Consultants (REC) Program.

The N.C. Division of Waste Management uses a document management system to maintain many of the public records. The document management system, which is called Laserfiche, can be easily accessed by the public at N.C. Division of Waste Management's File Records.

You can view maps of the many sites we regulate at the N.C. Division of Waste Management's GIS Maps.