Environmental cleanup efforts in Utah could get a $30 million jolt.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday more than $25 million could go to the Superfund site in Eureka in Juab County. Up to $5 million could go to the Superfund site straddling Bountiful, West Bountiful and Woods Cross in south Davis County.
The money comes from $600 million in stimulus cash dedicated to Superfund-site cleanup, though the EPA still has to approve the distribution of funds.
The work in Eureka has been under way since 2003. It is the largest of 23 Utah Superfund sites, said David Allison, the state's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) community-involvement specialist.
The $25 million would be used to clean up hazardous waste on 160 properties in Eureka, as well as stabilizing and capping three mine-waste areas and constructing drainage controls to prevent runoff from contaminated areas to clean areas.
On the Wasatch Front, leakage decades ago from a dry-cleaning business and contamination from a petroleum-products carrier have affected 400 acres in Woods Cross, Bountiful and West Bountiful.
Contaminants have been found in the groundwater, Allison said, "but it's not in the drinking-water wells."
The EPA recently began cleaning up the area near 500 South and has installed groundwater monitors, he said.
The extra money is to be used for extraction wells and a water-treatment system.
Superfund cleanup is led by the EPA, and states are required to match 10 percent of federal funds, said Utah DEQ State Project Manager Michael Storck.
