Central Hazardous Materials Fund (CHF) Sites

CHF cleanup sites include parks, abandoned mines, wildlife refuges, old industrial sites, and landfills, and military use areas across many Department of the Interior bureaus including the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Fishpond construction zone near mountains.

Accomplishments at CHF sites

The CHF Program addresses some of the most complex and highly contaminated site under the Department of the Interior's jurisdiction. Many of these sites pose unacceptable risks to human health, wildlife, and ecosystems.  Thirty years of the CHF Program has produced a number of success stories that showcase the programs commitment to overcoming unique environmental challenges and restoring access to public lands. The National Park Service's Palmerton Zinc Site is one such example.  Decades of zinc smelting at nearby plants deforested the slopes of Blue Mountain near Palmerton, PA along a heavily traveled section of the Appalachian Trail.  The efforts of the NPS aided by CHF funding and in coordination with regulatory partners including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, have transformed what had become a completely barren rocky landscape into an emerging forest habitat. Learn more about Palmerton's transformation from the Palmerton Zinc Story Map.

In many cases, CHF funded sites provided increased access to outdoor recreation after cleanup is completed. The US Fish and Wildlife Service Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery, located 80 miles east of Seattle, has undergone removal of lead-contaminated soil from an abandoned sports shooting range. The formerly contaminated area is being converted to a children’s fishing pond. To find out more about Leavenworth, please visit the Leavenworth Story Map.

CHF site cleanup also benefits wildlife and environmental quality. Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, located at the northern end of the Hawaiian Archipelago, is home to one of the world’s largest populations of seabirds. This former military site has also suffered lead contamination, which has damaged wildlife populations dramatically. The cleanup of contaminants funded by CHF has facilitated a restoration of native bird populations. To learn more about the Midway Atoll, please visit the Midway Atoll Story Map.

More Story Maps About CHF Sites

 

CHF Sites Webpages

The Central Hazardous Materials Fund has been working for more than 30 years. With many accomplishments, partnerships, and ongoing operations, the CHF continues to remediate and improve the nation's public lands.

The CHF 30th Anniversary Book has more information.  

 

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