WASHINGTON (AP) - The Environmental Protection Agency is adding 12 hazardous waste sites to the list of most-contaminated places in the United States.
Another eight sites are being considered for the Superfund list.
One of those sites is located in Phillips County. It's the old site of the Cedar Chemical Corporation in Helena-West Helena.
The company manufactured chemicals.
The government believes contamination there could pose a public health risk.
The designation puts the sites in line for major cleanups, either by the government or by companies or people deemed responsible for the contamination.
Other waste sites are being added in Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina and New Jersey. Texas and Ohio both have two sites being added to the list.
EPA says it could take years for cleanups to begin at sites where the government has to pay for cleanup efforts.