Reps. Cleaver, Kamlager-Dove, and Senator Schiff Request Update on EPA Actions to Mitigate Climate Risks at Toxic Superfund Sites Nationwide

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA), along with Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), led a congressional inquiry calling for an updated report on actions the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can take to mitigate climate risks at Superfund sites across the country. In a letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the lawmakers are also requesting information on the impact of recent federal funding and workforce cuts at the agency. 

“Given the multitude of policy and administrative changes at the EPA since the beginning of the year, we would like GAO to reexamine the current and future impacts of climate change on Superfund sites,” the lawmakers continued. “We encourage GAO to include any recommendations to continue addressing the growing risks at Superfund sites.”

“We also request that the report consider the impacts of recent funding and federal workforce cuts to the EPA. Although it is currently unclear how many employees have been placed on administrative leave, fired, reassigned, or have taken the Trump Administration’s deferred resignation program, there is no doubt that this reduction in force will impact EPA headquarters and regional offices’ ability to properly monitor and support Superfund sites,” the lawmakers concluded.

In 2019, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report concluding Superfund sites throughout the United States are severely underprepared to weather the exacerbating threat of climate change, risking calamity for surrounding communities that would be impacted by a potential breach. In the report, the GAO found that hundreds of Superfund sites across the nation face risks from flooding, storm surge, rise in sea level, and wildfires. For instance, in 2017, Hurricane Harvey caused flooding at 13 Superfund sites as well as breaches at two others. In 2018, a California wildfire burned through the Iron Mountain Mine site, causing pipes to catch fire with the potential to lead to an explosion that would have released dangerous chemicals into the neighboring communities.

Furthermore, recent extreme climate events, including Hurricane Helene in 2024 and the fires in California earlier this year, have been more frequent and severe.  In 2022, scientists from the EPA’s Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling (CEMM) found that out of 1330 Superfund sites in the US, over three hundred are in danger of flooding.

There are currently 39 Superfund sites in Missouri and 3 in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Twenty of these sites were deemed currently "vulnerable" to climate change by the GAO.

In 2023, Reps. Cleaver and Kamlager-Dove introduced legislation to protect communities from toxic waste at Superfund sites that are vulnerable to natural disasters and the effects of climate change. The Preparing Superfund for Climate Change Act would enhance protections for communities close to Superfund sites by requiring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to account for climate change in their plans for managing Superfund sites—which are polluted locations that contain hazardous toxic waste and other contaminants harmful to public health.

The official letter from lawmakers is available here.

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Greenwood, Blue Springs, North Kansas City, Gladstone, and Claycomo. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee and Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance.