Proposed Plan to Remove Contaminated Soil to be Discussed March 15 at Community Meetings and Drop-In Information Session about Kerr-McGee Superfund Site in Navassa, North Carolina

Media Contact: Christine Amrhine (Multistate Trust), (540) 846-3163, ca@g-etg.com

NAVASSA, N.C. (March 8, 2022) – Federal, state and Multistate Trust representatives will hold two community meetings and a drop-in information session about the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp – Navassa Superfund Site (the Site) on Tuesday, March 15, 2022.

Topics will include plans for the upcoming removal of contaminated soil from a former treated-wood storage area at the Site; environmental investigations and activities; natural resource restoration projects; and the Multistate Trust’s new Reuse Advisory Council and other redevelopment planning efforts.

What:

Tuesday, March 15, 2022

  • Community meeting: 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m. (in-person and virtual)

  • Drop-in information session: 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. (in-person only)

  • Community meeting: 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. (in-person and virtual)

Where:

Navassa Community Center, 338 Main Street, Navassa, NC

All events are being held in person. The community meetings can also be joined virtually.

  • Online: Use this Zoom link or enter tinyurl.com/NavassaMeetings into your browser.

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

Who:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4
N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ)
The Multistate Environmental Response Trust (Multistate Trust)

Both community meetings will begin with the same presentation, and a question-and-answer period will follow. Meetings are being offered at two times to allow greater participation. Following the meetings, the presentation materials will be posted at https://navassa.greenfieldenvironmental.com.

The drop-in session will give the public an opportunity to talk one-on-one with EPA, NCDEQ and Multistate Trust representatives.

Please see the flyer linked here and attached for more information and for directions on how to join either meeting by phone, computer or other device.

For More Information:

 

Site Background:

From 1936 to 1974, Kerr-McGee and its predecessors operated a creosote-based wood treating facility 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 2005, the former Kerr-McGee property was conveyed to Tronox, a Kerr-McGee spinoff that filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009. In 2011, the Multistate Trust acquired approximately 152 acres of the former Kerr-McGee property as a court-appointed trustee 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 facilitating safe, beneficial future reuse of the ±100-acre Superfund Site. In 2021, EPA issued a Record of Decision explaining that the selected remedy for the 20.2-acre Operable Unit 1 (OU1) area is no action. The deletion of OU1 from EPA’s National Priorities List on September 14, 2021 cleared the way for OU1’s return to productive reuse. 

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

Anna Novikova