OU2 Cleanup and Update on Future OU4 Remediation at Kerr-McGee Superfund Site in Navassa Among October 29 Community Meeting Topics
NAVASSA, N.C. (October 23, 2024) – 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 host a community meeting and drop-in session Tuesday, October 29 to update the public on the status of cleanup work, planning, and investigations at the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp – Navassa Superfund Site (Site).
Community members will have the opportunity to learn about the progress of the cleanup of contaminated surface soil at the Operable Unit 2 (OU2) area of the Site. Other topics will include the upcoming proposed cleanup plan for parts of Operable Unit 4, investigations of other Site areas, the proposed sale of Multistate Trust-owned 87 acres, and the Moze Center land donation.
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Community Meeting: 6 – 7 p.m., in-person and virtual
Drop-in Information Session: 7 – 8 p.m., in-person only
Location: Navassa Community Center, 338 Main Street, Navassa
Join meeting online or by phone
Use this Zoom link or enter tinyurl.com/NavassaMeetings into a browser.
Call (301) 715-8592. Use meeting ID 946 584 8922 and passcode 664564.
Stay after meeting for drop-in session
The drop-in information session gives the public an opportunity to speak one-on-one to project team members, ask questions, and share concerns and input.
For More Information
October 29, 2024 Community Meeting and Drop-in Session flyer
June 27, 2024 Community Meeting presentation
Multistate Trust website https://navassa.greenfieldenvironmental.com
EPA website www.epa.gov/superfund/kerr-mcgee-chemical-corp
NCDEQ website https://deq.nc.gov
Operable Unit 2 Cleanup Work
OU2 consists of 16 acres of the former treated and untreated wood storage area used when Kerr-McGee and its predecessors treated wood with creosote and other chemicals at the Site from 1936 to 1974. In 2022, EPA signed the OU2 Record of Decision selecting removal, on-site reuse/consolidation, and off-site disposal as the OU2 remedy.
The Multistate Trust is performing the OU2 cleanup work, under the oversight of EPA and in consultation with NCDEQ. The Multistate Trust engaged two local firms to complete the OU2 work, as part of the Multistate Trust’s effort to utilize cleanup funds in the local economy wherever possible.
The work involves excavating soils with contamination at levels higher than residential or ecological cleanup levels. Soils were stockpiled on the adjacent OU4 area of the Site, will be maintained and inspected regularly, and are expected to be consolidated into the future OU4 cleanup. Material that cannot be stored on-site will be recycled or disposed off-site in accordance with state and federal laws.
EPA expects to propose deleting OU2 from the National Priorities List of federal Superfund sites.
Site Background
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 Trustee of the Multistate Trust is Greenfield Environmental Multistate Trust LLC.
The Multistate Trust works with its beneficiaries—EPA and NCDEQ—on investigation, remediation, and reuse planning of the ±100-acre Superfund Site.