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Data updated October 22, 2026

Data updated October 22, 2026

Superfund sites near homes: what NPL status means

Updated October 22, 2026

A Superfund site is a contaminated property EPA has placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) for long-term cleanup. Its status (proposed, final or deleted) tells you where it is in that process, not how much risk it poses to a particular house nearby.

The National Priorities List is EPA’s list of the releases of hazardous substances that qualify for long-term cleanup under the Superfund program (40 CFR 300.425). A site’s NPL status describes where it stands administratively. To judge a specific property you need the site’s own history, the extent of contamination and the cleanup remedy, all published on EPA’s site profile pages.

How a site gets on the NPL

A release can be listed in one of three ways under 40 CFR 300.425(c):

  1. It scores high enough on the Hazard Ranking System (HRS), EPA’s numerical screening tool for the relative threat a release poses to human health and the environment.
  2. A state designates it as its single highest-priority site; each state can do this only once.
  3. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry issues a health advisory recommending that people be dissociated from the release, and EPA finds a significant public health threat.

The HRS listing cutoff is a score of 28.50. EPA says it chose that number because it produced an initial NPL of at least 400 sites, as Congress had suggested, and not because 28.50 signifies a threshold of unacceptable risk (EPA, Regulatory Context of the HRS). A higher score does not set a site’s cleanup order either.

Proposed, final, deleted and partial deletion

Listing is a rulemaking. EPA publishes a proposed rule in the Federal Register, takes public comment, then publishes a final rule with responses to comments.

  • Proposed. The site has been formally proposed for listing and is awaiting final action.
  • Final. The site is on the NPL and eligible for Superfund-financed remedial action.
  • Deleted. EPA, with the state’s concurrence, has determined that no further response is appropriate: responsible parties or EPA have carried out all appropriate response actions, or investigation showed no significant threat. Deletion requires a notice of intent, a comment period of at least 30 days and a final notice.
  • Partial deletion. EPA can delete a portion of a site, such as a parcel or a medium like soil, while the rest stays listed. EPA’s NPL data flags every site that has had a partial deletion.

A deleted site remains eligible for further Superfund cleanup if conditions warrant, and it must be restored to the NPL without a new HRS score if a significant release occurs (40 CFR 300.425(e)(3)).

What “construction complete” means

Construction completion is a milestone EPA uses when “all physical construction required for the cleanup of the entire site has been completed (even though final cleanup levels may not have been achieved)” (EPA, Construction Completions). A groundwater treatment system that is built but will run for years is the typical case. A site can be construction complete and still final on the NPL, which is the status of several Miami-Dade sites below.

How many sites there are

EPA’s NPL page reports 1,343 final sites and 37 proposed sites as of March 13, 2026 (EPA, Current NPL Updates). EPA’s NPL map layer, last edited September 30, 2026, contains 1,337 final, 37 proposed and 466 deleted sites (EPA NPL GIS layer). The two sources are on different dates, so small differences are expected.

CERCLA liability basics for owners

Under 42 U.S.C. 9607(a), the parties liable for cleanup costs are the current owner and operator of the facility, anyone who owned or operated it when hazardous substances were disposed of, those who arranged for disposal, and transporters who selected the site. Owning a home near a Superfund site does not make you one of these parties.

The exposure is for buyers of contaminated land itself, and for owners whose land has been contaminated by a neighbor’s release. CERCLA’s contiguous property owner provision (9607(q)) protects an owner whose property is contaminated only by a release from land they do not own, provided they did not cause it, made all appropriate inquiries before buying, and meet continuing obligations such as cooperating with cleanup and complying with land use restrictions. Our Phase I environmental site assessment guide covers those inquiries and the other landowner protections.

Where to look up a site

Every NPL site has an EPA Superfund site profile page with its status, the contaminants, the remedy, five-year reviews and documents from EPA’s Superfund Enterprise Management System (SEMS). The NPL map layer above links each site to its profile and Federal Register notices. Things to read on a profile:

  • the cleanup remedy, and whether it is finished or still operating;
  • any institutional controls, such as deed restrictions or groundwater use limits, and the parcels they cover;
  • the most recent five-year review, which says whether the remedy remains protective;
  • maps of the site boundary or contaminant plume. NPL locations are mapped as single points, and a large site can extend well beyond its point.

Superfund sites in and near Miami-Dade

The table lists NPL sites inside or within a few miles of the Miami-Dade ZIPs we cover. Status and dates come from EPA’s NPL layer (edited September 30, 2026); locations are from our ZIP data, with distances measured from the ZIP boundary.

Site EPA status Construction complete Where
Airco Plating Co. Final 1999 Inside ZIP 33142
Continental Cleaners Final (listed 2012) None recorded Inside ZIP 33127
Anodyne, Inc. Final None recorded Inside ZIP 33169
Homestead Air Force Base Final 2006 Inside ZIP 33033
Petroleum Products Corp. (Pembroke Park, Broward County) Final None recorded 1.3 miles from ZIP 33179
Miami Drum Services Deleted August 20, 2026 1993 Inside ZIP 33166
Pepper Steel & Alloys, Inc. Deleted August 20, 2026 1993 Inside ZIP 33178
B&B Chemical Co., Inc. Deleted 2014 1994 Inside ZIP 33010
Standard Auto Bumper Corp. Deleted 2007 1994 Inside ZIP 33010
Munisport Landfill Deleted 1999 1997 Inside ZIP 33181
Anaconda Aluminum Co./Milgo Electronics Corp. Deleted 1998 1994 Inside ZIP 33147
Gold Coast Oil Corp. Deleted 1996 1992 Inside ZIP 33155
Northwest 58th Street Landfill Deleted 1996 1995 Inside ZIP 33178
Woodbury Chemical Co. (Princeton Plant) Deleted 1995 1992 Inside ZIP 33032
Varsol Spill Deleted 1988 1985 Inside ZIP 33142

Two patterns stand out. Airco Plating and Homestead Air Force Base reached construction completion years ago but remain final, which fits EPA’s definition: the cleanup is built, but final cleanup levels may not yet have been reached. ZIP 33142 holds both an active site and a deleted one, and ZIP 33010 holds two deleted sites, so a ZIP-level count mixes very different situations. The Miami-Dade county overview lists every ZIP report.

What proximity does and does not tell you

Distance to an NPL site is a screening measure, not a measure of exposure. Contamination moves through specific pathways, usually groundwater, soil or vapor, and two homes the same distance from a site can face very different conditions depending on the plume and the remedy.

Research on house prices points the same way, and the findings are mixed. Comparing sites that narrowly qualified for the NPL with sites that narrowly missed, Greenstone and Gallagher (2008) found that cleanups had effects on nearby census-tract house prices, rents and population that were economically small and statistically indistinguishable from zero. Using finer geography within about 3 miles of sites, Gamper-Rabindran and Timmins (2013) found that deletion from the NPL raised nearby house values, most at the lower end of the price distribution. The difference comes largely from geographic scale: effects, where found, are local.

For a specific purchase, read the site profile, check whether the property is inside any mapped plume or institutional control area, and for commercial or investment property, commission a Phase I assessment. Our methodology explains how the ZIP reports measure distance to EPA sites.

Questions

Does a deleted Superfund site mean the land is clean?

Deletion means EPA, with the state's concurrence, has determined that no further Superfund response is appropriate. A deleted site remains eligible for further Superfund cleanup and must be restored to the NPL if a significant release occurs.

What HRS score puts a site on the NPL?

Sites scoring 28.50 or higher on EPA's Hazard Ranking System are eligible. EPA says it chose that cutoff to produce an initial list of at least 400 sites, not because 28.50 marks a threshold of unacceptable risk.

How many Superfund sites are there?

EPA lists 1,343 final NPL sites and 37 proposed sites as of March 13, 2026. EPA's NPL map layer, last edited September 30, 2026, shows 1,337 final, 37 proposed and 466 deleted sites.

Am I liable for a Superfund site next door?

Owning nearby property does not by itself make you liable. CERCLA liability attaches to owners and operators of the contaminated facility and to certain past owners, arrangers and transporters, and a contiguous property owner protection exists for land contaminated only by a neighbor's release.

Sources

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