Community Meeting To Provide Updates on Remediation at Kerr-McGee Superfund Site in Navassa March 4

NAVASSA, N.C. (February 26, 2025) – Representatives of the Multistate Environmental Response Trust (Multistate Trust), with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ), will discuss various topics including the proposed remediation in the northern portion of Operable Unit 4 (OU4) and the ongoing remediation in Operable Unit 2 (OU2) of the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp – Navassa Superfund Site (Site) at a March 4 community meeting and drop-in session. 

Community members are invited to hear about the draft proposed remediation plan for the northern portion of OU4 (former pond and process area). Other topics will include updates on the continuing cleanup work in OU2 (former treated and untreated wood storage area); a Natural Resource Trustees update on restoration projects; and an update on the Moze Heritage Center and Nature Park.

Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Community Meeting: 6 – 7 p.m., in-person and virtual
Drop-in Session: 7 – 8 p.m., in-person only

Location: Navassa Community Center, 338 Main Street, Navassa

Join meeting online or by phone
Online: Use this Zoom link or enter tinyurl.com/NavassaMeetings into a browser.

Phone: Call (301) 715-8592. Use meeting ID 946 584 8922 and passcode 664564.

Stay after meeting for drop-in session
The drop-in session gives the public an opportunity to speak one-on-one to project representatives, ask questions, and share concerns.

 

For More Information

 

Maps

Download Navassa Kerr-McGee site maps. Photos available on request.
Map 1_Operable Units 1–5 at Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp – Navassa Superfund Site
Map 2_±87 acres of Multistate Trust property (light purple) for sale
Map 3_Location of entire ±154-acre Multistate Trust property in Navassa

 Site Background

From 1936 to 1974, Kerr-McGee and its predecessors used creosote and other chemicals to treat wood for railroad ties, utility poles, and pilings. The wood treating facility operated on ±70 acres along the Brunswick River at Sturgeon Creek. In 1980, Kerr-McGee decommissioned and dismantled the facility and wood-treatment buildings.

 In 2010, groundwater, soil, and sediment contamination by creosote-related chemicals led EPA to add the former Kerr-McGee property to the National Priorities List. Site contamination does not currently threaten people living or working near the Site.

 The Multistate Trust is a private, independent trust created in 2011 as part of the Tronox bankruptcy settlement to own, manage, and remediate the Site and facilitate its safe, beneficial reuse. In 2011, the Multistate Trust acquired ±152 acres of the ±246 acres that Kerr-McGee formerly owned. The Multistate Trust purchased two more acres in 2016.

The Multistate Trust’s cleanup funds were provided entirely by Tronox through a bankruptcy settlement, not by public or taxpayer dollars. The Tronox funding includes amounts paid by certain Kerr-McGee-affiliated entities and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation to settle a fraudulent conveyance lawsuit filed after Tronox’s bankruptcy.

The Multistate Trust works with its beneficiaries—EPA and NCDEQ—on investigation, remediation, and reuse planning of the Superfund Site. The Trustee of the Multistate Trust is Greenfield Environmental Multistate Trust LLC.

Anna Novikova