In a letter sent earlier this week, Gov. John Bel Edwards of Louisiana requested the Environmental Protection Agency add Capitol Lakes to the National Priorities List, or NPL. The letter was in response to a request from EPA in Nov. seeking concurrence for a proposed listing after they conducted an assessment.

Illegal since 1979, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) still contaminate Capitol Lakes. PCBs can cause cancer and have other adverse health effects.

"The LDEQ agrees that the site should be listed on the NPL, so that the polychlorinated biphenyl contamination that remains at the site can be addressed," Edwards writes. "This is needed in order to eliminate the potential threats this contamination could pose to the public, as well as the surface water pathway and wetland areas that are on and adjacent to the site."

This letter of concurrence will start the process in the Federal Register, with a public comment period coming sometime in the spring, Louisiana Illuminator reports.

"Should the site be listed on the NPL, the LDEQ will continue to assist the EPA in remedial activities designed to protect public health and the environment," Edwards concludes.