Superfund Sites Near You-Gallup's Quarry, Connecticut

Approximately one mile south of Plainfield's business district lays a 29-acre gravel pit called Gallup's Quarry. Gallup's Quarry is a Superfund site because the owner accepted chemical wastes without permits throughout the early to mid 1970s. Some of the waste was stored in barrels at Gallup's Quarry, and other liquid waste was simply poured onto the ground of the Superfund site. More history of the site can be found at the Atsdr.cdc.gov website, or just click here.

The Superfund was specifically designed for occurrences such as what happened at Gallup's Quarry, where industrial waste has been dumped with no regard to public or environmental safety and health. The Superfund is funded by the federal government and managed by the Environmental Protection Agency. When a contaminated site such as Gallup's Quarry makes the National Priorities List, it is considered for Superfund assistance. Once cleaned to the EPA's satisfaction, a Superfund site is removed from the National Priorities List, but may still require local attention. You can read more about the Superfund at Wikipedia.org or just click here.

Around the Gallup's Quarry Superfund area, around 6500 people rely on private wells only three miles away from the site. Another 2200 people are dependent on a public well only 4,000 feet away from the Gallup's Quarry contamination.

Found contaminating the ground water in and around the contaminated Superfund site were metals and volatile organic compounds which can vaporize and enter the atmosphere. Some of the specific compounds found at Gallup's Quarry were trichloroethylene, toluene, and copper. More about contaminates that were found can be seen at Scorecard.org or just click here.

In 1978, drums and contaminated soils were removed from the Gallup's Quarry Superfund site, removing the immediate danger. In 2001 a long term remedy for the ground water was instituted at Gallup's Quarry. The ground water remedy plan at Gallup's Quarry will allow natural processes to remove contaminates. This natural process will be closely monitored through a series of 5-year reviews and is expected to take 25yrs to reach targeted goals. In 2007 the second of the 5-year reviews was completed at the Superfund site and showed positive results. An in depth PDF of the second 5-year report can be found at the Epa.gov website or you can just click here. Currently the Gallup's Quarry Superfund site is potentially reusable for industrial purposes and a green energy development is intended to be constructed there.