OU2 Cleanup to Begin at Kerr-McGee Superfund Site in Navassa and to Be Discussed at August 2023 Community Meeting

Media Contact:  Christine Amrhine (Multistate Trust), (540) 846-3163, ca@g-etg.com
Melody Foote (NCDEQ), (919) 707-8233, melody.foote@deq.nc.gov;  

Map of Operable Units 1–5 at the Kerr-McGee Superfund Site, Navassa

NAVASSA, N.C. (August 23, 2023) – The Multistate Trust anticipates starting cleanup of contaminated surface soil in Operable Unit 2 (OU2) in Fall 2023 at the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp – Navassa Superfund Site (Site). The OU2 cleanup will be a discussion topic at the community meeting and drop-in information session to be held Tuesday, August 29 by the Multistate Environmental Response Trust (Multistate Trust) together with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ).

Meeting topics related to the OU2 remediation will include traffic control, air monitoring, and other planned measures to protect the health and safety of residents and to minimize the impacts on the community. The meeting will cover the Multistate Trust’s hiring of two local firms to perform the OU2 work, and related employment and training opportunities. Other topics will include OU3 and OU4 investigations and the future sale of ±87 acres of Multistate Trust-owned property at the Site.

OU2 consists of ±16 acres once part of the treated and untreated wood storage areas used when Kerr-McGee and its predecessors treated wood with creosote at the Site. The Multistate Trust is preparing to excavate contaminated surface soil from OU2 and store the soils in the OU4 area in temporary stockpiles to be covered and managed. The stockpiled soils are expected to be reused or consolidated into the future cleanup of OU4. Material that cannot be stored on-site will be recycled or disposed in accordance with state and federal laws. The OU2 work is expected to take 3–4 months to complete. Once the remediation is finished, OU2 will be available for unrestricted use, with no long-term monitoring required.

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

  • Community Meeting: 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. In person and virtual.

  • Drop-in Session: 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. In person only.

Location:  Navassa Community Center, 338 Main Street, Navassa

Join the meeting online or by phone:

For More Information:

Site Background:

From 1936 to 1974, Kerr-McGee and its predecessors used creosote to treat wood for railroad ties, utility poles, and pilings. The wood treating facility operated on approximately 70 acres of the ±246-acre former Kerr-McGee property on the Brunswick River at Sturgeon Creek. In 1980, Kerr-McGee decommissioned and dismantled the wood-treatment buildings and facilities.

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 of federal Superfund sites. Site contamination does not currently threaten people living or working near the Superfund Site. 

In 2011, the Multistate Trust acquired ±152 acres of the former Kerr-McGee property as a court-appointed trustee selected to own, manage, remediate the Site, and facilitate its safe, beneficial reuse, as part of the Tronox bankruptcy settlement. In 2016, the Multistate Trust purchased an additional two acres.

The Multistate Trust is working with its beneficiaries—EPA and NCDEQ—on Site investigation, remediation and reuse planning of the ±100-acre Superfund Site. In 2021, EPA issued a Record of Decision explaining that the selected remedy for the ±20-acre OU1 is no action. OU1’s subsequent deletion from EPA’s National Priorities List cleared the way for OU1’s future return to productive reuse.

In 2022, EPA signed the OU2 Record of Decision (here) selecting removal, on-site reuse/consolidation and off-site disposal as the OU2 remedy. As part of the Multistate Trust’s effort to invest cleanup funds in the local economy wherever possible, a robust search and bid process resulted in the approval of two local firms to perform the OU2 work.

Together, the companies will be responsible for grubbing and clearing, logging, excavation, hauling, and Site security, among other tasks. Both firms are committed to supporting the local economy in Navassa. Following completion of the cleanup work, OU2 will be suitable for any future land use, and EPA will propose deleting OU2 from the National Priorities List.

 

Greenfield Environmental Multistate Trust LLC is trustee of the Multistate Trust.

Anna Novikova