There Are 1,300+ Superfund Sites in the U.S. Here's How to Know If You Live Near One

#environmental #superfund #data #api

Content:

The EPA's Superfund program — officially the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) — tracks the most contaminated locations in America.

1,347 active Superfund sites. That's the current count.

But here's what's alarming: over 16 million people live within a mile of a Superfund site. Children. Families. People who have no idea what's in their soil.

The data exists. It's public. But it's buried in EPA databases, PDF reports, and state environmental agency websites. There's no single, queryable source.

We changed that.

The ProtectMyZip API includes proximity data for all EPA CERCLIS-listed sites. Query any address and get:

Distance to nearest Superfund site
Site name and EPA ID
Contaminant types (lead, arsenic, PCBs, VOCs, etc.)
Cleanup status (active, proposed, deleted)
NPL (National Priorities List) designation

Real example: A property in Love Canal, Niagara Falls, NY — the site that literally created the Superfund program in 1980 — still shows proximity alerts in the database.

Who needs this data?

Real estate developers — due diligence before acquisition
Homebuyers — environmental due diligence, especially near industrial areas
Insurance underwriters — environmental liability assessment
Public health researchers — exposure correlation studies

The API call:

GET /api/hazards?address=129+Dearborn+St,+Niagara+Falls,+NY
→ "superfund": { "nearest_site": "Love Canal", "distance_miles": 0.3, "status": "active" }