At the Navassa site, Kerr-McGee used creosote and other chemicals to treat wooden railroad ties and utility poles from 1936 to 1974. The facility operated on about 70 acres near Brunswick River and Sturgeon Creek. It was decommissioned and dismantled in 1980.
In 2010, contamination of groundwater, soil, and sediment by creosote-related chemicals caused the EPA to add the land to the National Priorities List. That's the EPA’s list of sites with the most known releases or threatened releases of hazardous pollutants.
Superfund sites are divided into smaller sections called operable units (OU). The soil environmental officials plan to remove is part of a temporary stockpile in OU4. Contractors cleaned and backfilled soil in OU2, but had to keep the soil stored in OU4 for the time being.
Now, the environmental agencies are looking to move the soil due to possible threats to groundwater. The contaminated soil will be disposed of at an EPA-approved landfill, and soil that poses no risk will be disposed of on site.
At the meeting, representatives will also discuss a proposed plan to clean OU3, future clean-ups in the northern portion of OU4, local contracting, and other site updates.
The meeting will take place on Tuesday, July 28, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Navassa Community Center.
People can also tune in on Zoom with this link: tinyurl.com/Navassameetings.