WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is touting cleanups at seven of the nation’s most polluted places as a signature accomplishment in the Trump administration’s effort to reduce the number of Superfund sites.
But records show the physical work was completed before Trump took office.
The agency this week credited the leadership of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt with tripling the number of sites fully or partially removed from the National Priority List in 2017, compared with two during the last year of the Obama administration.
Cleanups of Superfund sites usually take decades, spanning multiple administrations. EPA records show the seven Superfund sites delisted last year fall short of the average pace set under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.
EPA removed more than 10 sites annually during Obama’s two terms.