The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced a $93.4 million plan to clean up the United Heckathorn Superfund site in Richmond, California, by dredging contaminated sediment from the Lauritzen Channel. However, local community groups like the Richmond Shoreline Alliance criticize the proposal for failing to perform a complete cleanup. Residents express frustration over decades of delays and health risks in the predominantly Black and Latinx neighborhoods adjacent to the site.
The EPA's Proposed Cleanup Plan
- ▪The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan calls for dredging and removing contaminated sediment from the Lauritzen Channel, covering dredged areas with carbon and sand, and capping the north end and shoreline.
- ▪The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a 53-page, $93.4 million plan to remove dangerous chemicals from the United Heckathorn Superfund site in Richmond, California.
- ▪The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's $93.4 million cleanup plan for the United Heckathorn Superfund site will be funded by the private companies responsible for the polluted properties, though the specific parties are not named in the plan
- ▪The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scheduled an open house on October 21, 2026, to present its plan, with a public comment period running from September 30 to December 29, 2026.
Community Criticism and Alternative Proposals
- ▪Richmond Shoreline Alliance coordinator Janet Johnson criticized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's $93.4 million plan for failing to completely remove contaminants and for ignoring the community's alternative proposal drafted by the Richmond Shoreline Alliance
- ▪The Richmond Shoreline Alliance, Sierra Club, and SF Baykeeper drafted an alternative cleanup plan calling for draining the Lauritzen Channel and removing all contaminated soil and debris in a dry environment.
Failure of Previous Cleanup Efforts
- ▪Private companies that funded the failed 1990s cleanup of the United Heckathorn Superfund site included Montrose Group, Rhone Poulenc, Inc., Stauffer Management Company, Christ-Craft Industries, Inc., Levin Enterprises, Inc., and Levin-Richmond Terminal, Inc.
- ▪The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's initial 1990s cleanup of the United Heckathorn Superfund site was declared a failure by 2016 due to remaining contaminants in the channel sediment, shoreline, and embankment.
- ▪A 2022 follow-up study revealed that sediments in the central Lauritzen Channel contained DDT levels up to 3,800 times higher than the target cleanup goal established in the 1990s cleanup of the Heckathorn Superfund site
Threats from Rising Sea Levels
- ▪Community members expressed concern that the Lauritzen Channel remains vulnerable to sea level and groundwater rise, issues not mentioned in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's proposed plan.
- ▪A November 2025 study in Nature Communications by scientists from UC Berkeley, Nanjing University, and Climate Central found that rising seas will increase flood risks for hazardous coastal sites.
History and Nature of Contamination
- ▪Two primary chemicals contaminating the United Heckathorn Superfund site are DDT, a pesticide banned in 1972, and dieldrin, an insecticide used for crops and termites.
- ▪The Lauritzen Channel, created for Richmond's World War II shipbuilding industry, became contaminated after companies including United Heckathorn Chemical Co. dumped chemicals from the 1940s to the 1960s.
Richmond Resident Concerns
- ▪Richmond residents expressed concern that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's $93.4 million plan does not disclose where the removed contaminated material will be disposed of
- ▪Richmond residents expressed frustration over the 30-year delay in cleaning up the United Heckathorn Superfund site, noting that adjacent neighborhoods are home to low-income, predominantly Black and Latinx communities.
Fish Consumption Risks
- ▪The Lauritzen Channel area is fenced off and closed to fishing because eating anything caught there presents a health risk.
- ▪A 2010 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency risk assessment calculated that eating fish from the Lauritzen Channel posed a lifetime cancer risk greater than 1 in 1,000 people exposed.
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