WASHINGTON - Rep. Yvette Herrell has urged the Environmental Protection Agency to prioritize cleanup of a long-neglected Superfund site in Socorro, NM.

In a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, Rep. Herrell noted that the Eagle Picher Carefree Battery Superfund site, which produces harmful toxins in residential areas, "has been designated as a Superfund site for nearly fifteen years and has long awaited increased prioritization for implementation."

"Since 2007, this project has been classified as a federally designated cleanup project, but the state of New Mexico has been aware of this problem since the 1980's," Rep. Herrell wrote. "Due to toxic groundwater from an old battery plant that produced non-automotive lead-acid batteries, toxic waste was disposed in open-pit lagoons, resulting in harmful toxins and vapors seeping beneath homes in and around the area where the battery plant used to be."

Rep. Herrell's full letter may be found here.