Longwood, Sanford Sites Added to EPA's Superfund National Priorities List

Two business properties in Central Florida, both in Seminole County, were placed Monday on the federal government's list of the nation's most dangerously polluted sites.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it added to its Superfund cleanup program a longtime dry cleaners in a historic part of downtown Sanford and an industrial property near Longwood once used by General Dynamics Corp. and other companies. Toxic industrial chemicals have found their way underground at both locations, though they pose no immediate health risks, officials in the EPA's Atlanta office said.

Central Florida has relatively few properties listed as Superfund sites, a designation many communities seek to avoid because it tends to lower nearby property values or harm a neighborhood's reputation.

Of the 51 other sites in Florida, one is in Orlando, two are in unincorporated Orange County, one is in south Lake County, one is in Volusia County and two are in south Brevard County.