Sussex County, DE
The federal environmental record for Sussex County (population 263,509): what is on file, where it is, and what remains open. Sources and retrieval dates are on the methodology page.
5
Superfund NPL sites
19
federal cleanup sites
11
PFAS-detecting water systems
14
TRI facilities
43
open tank releases
Superfund NPL sites
| Site | City | Status | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blades Groundwater | Blades | on the NPL | 09/03/2020 |
| Georgetown North Groundwater | Georgetown | on the NPL | 09/09/2022 |
| Millsboro TCE | Millsboro | proposed | - |
| NCR Corp. (Millsboro Plant) | Millsboro | on the NPL | 07/22/1987 |
| Sussex County Landfill No. 5 | Laurel | deleted | 10/04/1989 |
Drinking water: PFAS testing
Public water systems serving Sussex with at least one PFAS detection under UCMR5. The federal limit for PFOA and PFOS is 4 ng/L; EPA proposed in May 2026 to rescind the limits for the other compounds, which are shown for information.
| System | Highest results | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| BETHANY BAY PUMP DISTRICT DE0000221 | PFOS: 6.1 ng/L | above final limit |
| STAGE VILLAGE MHC DE0000569 | PFBS: 12.7 ng/L PFOS: 8.5 ng/L PFOA: 7.6 ng/L | above final limit |
| GEORGETOWN WATER DEPARTMENT DE0000592 | 6:2 FTS: 180 ng/L PFPeA: 110 ng/L PFHxA: 68 ng/L | above final limit |
| LEWES BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS DE0000602 | PFOS: 9.5 ng/L PFOA: 6.1 ng/L PFHxS: 3.5 ng/L | above final limit |
| REHOBOTH BEACH WATER DEPARTMENT DE0000723 | PFOA: 14.9 ng/L PFBS: 7.2 ng/L PFHxS: 6.9 ng/L | above final limit |
| DEWEY BEACH WATER DEPARTMENT DE0000825 | PFOA: 11 ng/L PFBS: 5 ng/L PFHxA: 4.2 ng/L | above final limit |
| REHOBOTH PUMP DISTRICT DE0000991 | PFPeA: 9.4 ng/L PFHxA: 6.6 ng/L PFBS: 5.8 ng/L | above final limit |
| ARTESIAN NORTHERN SUSSEX REGIONAL DE0020003 | PFPeA: 8.3 ng/L PFOA: 5.7 ng/L PFHxA: 5.7 ng/L | above final limit |
| SOUTH BETHANY DE00A0323 | PFOS: 4.7 ng/L | above final limit |
| SEAFORD WATER DEPARTMENT DE0000246 | PFPeA: 6.1 ng/L PFHxA: 4.8 ng/L | detected |
| BAYSIDE PUMP DISTRICT DE00A0837 | PFPeA: 13.5 ng/L PFBA: 8 ng/L PFHxA: 3.6 ng/L | detected |
On a system with detections? Testing and treatment options
Facilities reporting toxic releases (2024)
14 facilities in Sussex filed TRI reports for 2024, totalling 976k lb released.
| Facility | City | Top chemicals | Total released |
|---|---|---|---|
| PERDUE FOODS LLC - GEORGETOWN PROCESSING PLANT | GEORGETOWN | Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Ammonia | 564k lb |
| ALLEN HARIM FOODS LLC - HARBESON | HARBESON | Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Ammonia | 313k lb |
| MOUNTAIRE FARMS OF DELAWARE INC | MILLSBORO | Ammonia, Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution) | 69k lb |
| INDIAN RIVER GENERATING STATION | DAGSBORO | Ammonia, Barium compounds (except for barium sulfate (CAS No. 7727-43-7)) | 27k lb |
| THE PICTSWEET CO - BRIDGEVILLE DE PLANT | BRIDGEVILLE | Ammonia | 2k lb |
| BRAINERD LLC | SEAFORD | Peracetic acid | 1k lb |
| ALLEN HARIM FOODS LLC - MILLSBORO | MILLSBORO | Peracetic acid | 544 lb |
| ORIENT CORP OF AMERICA | SEAFORD | Aniline, Nitrobenzene | 116 lb |
| INTERVET INC. (DBA MERCK ANIMAL HEALTH) | MILLSBORO | Mercury And Mercury Compounds | 1 lb |
| ALLEN HARIM FARMS LLC- SEAFORD MILL | SEAFORD | - | 0 lb |
| AMICK FARMS LLC | DELMAR | - | 0 lb |
| MOUNTAIRE FARMS INC - FRANKFORD FEED MILL | FRANKFORD | - | 0 lb |
| BRIDGEVILLE FEED MILL & GRAIN STORAGE | BRIDGEVILLE | - | 0 lb |
| MOUNTAIRE FARMS INC. - SELBYVILLE PLANT | SELBYVILLE | - | 0 lb |
Underground fuel tanks
EPA's UST Finder records 866 tank facilities in Sussex: 322 tanks in service and 2,432 closed. 1,088 fuel releases are on record, of which 43 remain open. Open releases are cleanups that have not reached "no further action".
Radon
EPA maps Sussex as Zone 3, the lowest predicted indoor radon (under 2 pCi/L average). Radon and air quality are covered in depth on lung.com.
The record for one specific address
County figures blur what matters: distance. The Address Environmental Report runs these same federal datasets against one address and reports every site, tank, polluter and water result around it, with distances, in about a minute.
Get the report - $39All federal cleanup sites on file
The wider Superfund enterprise inventory (SEMS) for Sussex, including sites assessed but never listed. Presence here records that EPA had reason to look, not a finding of danger.
- ATLANTIC AVENUE PFASMILLVILLE
- BERACAH HOMES INCGREENWOOD
- BLADES GROUNDWATERBLADES
- DELMAR WATER SUPPLY WELLDELMAR
- DONOVAN SALVAGE WORKS, INC.GEORGETOWN
- FORMER NANTICOKE CLEANERS SITEBLADES
- GEORGETOWN CLEANERSGEORGETOWN
- HARBESON DEAD SWAN SITEHARBESON
- HOMESTEAD CAMPGROUNDGEORGETOWN
- INVISTA S.A.R.L. SEAFORD PLANTSEAFORD
- KREWATCH FARM SITESEAFORD
- MILFORD SALVAGE YARDMILFORD
- MILLSBORO TCEMILLSBORO
- NAVAL RESERVE FAC DEPT OF THE NAVY - CAPE HENLOPEN STATE PARK, LEWESLEWES
- NCR CORP. (MILLSBORO PLANT)MILLSBORO
- PENINSULA PLATING SITEBLADES
- PRIME HOOK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGEMILTON
- PROCINO PLATINGBLADES
- SUSSEX COUNTY LANDFILL NO. 5LAUREL