They’re some of the most toxic places on earth, and, for some people, they may be right next door.
Chesterfield County’s Defense Supply Center Richmond has been a Superfund cleanup site since the early 1990s. (Photo courtesy Defense Logistics Agency)
Superfund sites are the neighbors nobody wants. Poisoned with arsenic, lead and more, they have corrupted local environments. In the greater Richmond region there are four, including Chesterfield County’s Defense Supply Center Richmond.
The grounds at the active federal facility have been undergoing remediation since the early 1990s.
Starting in 1941, the land was used for several purposes, including pesticide storage; firefighter training, which often sprayed a hazardous foam known as AFFF; and as a dumping ground for chemicals and construction debris. The movement to identify and clean Superfund sites began in 1980 with the passage of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, and the Chesterfield site was identified in 1987. Three operable units, or OUs, are still undergoing active cleaning today.
“We minimize environmental risk through monitored, compliant, off-site disposal in accordance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act,” says Stephen Baker, the chief of public affairs for the military’s Defense Logisitics Agency, which operates at the site. “The land is monitored through a network of over 1,000 monitoring wells, which we use to collect samples and evaluate contamination levels and system effectiveness.”
Various techniques are being used to clean these three OUs. One method is In Situ Bioremediation, which employs microorganisms to eat pollutants, especially in soil and groundwater. Monitored natural attenuation is implemented to assist, using natural processes to decompose contaminants. Another method is a sub-slab depressurization system. This is being specifically used on OU8 (a chlorinated plume of volatile organic compounds) to remove contaminated air from beneath the building.
An additional investigation for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, was launched by the EPA due to the Chesterfield site’s historic levels of chemical usage. Commonly referred to as “forever chemicals,” PFAS can last for years in the environment. The center completed an internal technical memorandum to help guide the investigation in December 2024.
Exposure to Superfund site pollutants, whether through air, water or soil, can leave lasting environmental and health concerns.
“Superfund [sites] generally contain some of the worst, most intense pollution sources in the United States,” says Tim Cywinski, a spokesperson for the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club. “None of them are safe. They all have health risks, and all majorly impact the environment in a terrible way.”
A 2024 study found that the closer a person lived to a Superfund location, the higher their cancer risk. This was especially true in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, which are more frequently located near sites.
Most Richmond-area Superfund sites were developed in the first half of the 20th century. Henrico County’s Rentokil Inc., which operated from 1957 to 1990, was a wood-treating plant where arsenic and chromium were present. The burn pit at Hanover County’s H & H Inc. ignited printing ink and paint waste from 1960 to 1976, releasing lead and vinyl chloride. Chesterfield’s C & R Battery Company was deleted from the National Priority List in 2022 after 35 years of remediation, and the site is now used for a construction company and vehicle storage.
As for Defense Supply Center Richmond, the DLA makes annual recovery reports to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. It also holds semiannual Restoration Advisory Board meetings with Chesterfield residents.
“We’ve made significant progress in cleaning up the site, and we’re working closely with the local Bensley community and regulatory agencies, including the EPA and the DEQ, to monitor our progress,” Baker says. “Our goal is to meet safety standards, which is the primary objective of the cleanup efforts.”
But despite these remediation efforts, there are still major concerns. Superfund site cleanups can cost millions of dollars, and environmental groups have questioned whether EPA regulations are outdated and if these spots have proper oversight.
“Once [Superfund sites] are there, they’re extremely difficult and expensive to get rid of,” Cywinski says. “The longer they last, the harder it is to clean up.”
Only time will tell whether these harmful sites can ever truly be healed, but little steps still make a difference in eliminating these toxic wastelands from communities.
