Jacksonville city hall plaza, Jacksonville, FL — Jacksonville Weather Landmark Backdrop
Federal regulators are about to bury a mile-long wall deep underneath one of Gainesville’s most contaminated properties. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to construct a 65-foot-deep underground barrier beneath four contaminated areas of the Koppers Superfund site, designed to trap polluted groundwater within the property’s boundaries before it can spread any further.
The plan, first detailed by Mainstreet Daily News Gainesville, calls for the wall to cut through multiple aquifers and anchor into a clay bottom, then be capped to keep rainwater from seeping in or overflowing. Once finished, the structure won’t be visible from the surface at all. EPA site manager Megan Arias presented the plan to the Gainesville City Commission, according to the same report, and construction is slated to begin this fall and run until June or July of 2027…