What is the former Tronox/Kerr-McGee Wood Treating Facility in Bossier City, Louisiana (the Site)?
The Site is located at 520 Hamilton Road, near the intersection of Hamilton Road and Green Street. The Site was used by Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation and its predecessors for wood treatment operations from 1930 to 1987.
During the facility’s operation, creosote and other chemicals were used to process wood products. Creosote-contaminated process wastewater was discharged to open, unlined stormwater ditches, which ran to the north of the Site, east of Dickerson Street, and along the railroad ditches east of Scott-Dickerson Homes and the Site. In the 1960s, the area to the north of the facility was graded and the ditches were filled. Homes and apartment buildings were built on top of where the facility’s former operators had left contamination.
The facility was decommissioned in 1988. Kerr-McGee transferred the Site to Tronox LLC in 2005. After Tronox filed for bankruptcy, ownership and management of the Site were transferred to the Multistate Trust in 2011. The ±32-acre Site consists of two parcels: (1) the Main Property (also known as the East Property) includes ±26 acres east of Hamilton Road and is where most of the wood treatment and processing is believed to have occurred; and (2) the West Property covers ±6 acres west of Hamilton Road and was used primarily for wood storage and other activities.
Who currently owns the Site?
The Multistate Environmental Response Trust (Multistate Trust) owns the Site.
The Multistate Trust is a private, independent environmental response trust created as part of the 2011 Tronox bankruptcy settlement. Appointed by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, the Multistate Trust is responsible for owning, investigating, cleaning up, and facilitating reuse(s) of hundreds of former Tronox/Kerr-McGee sites, including this Site in Bossier City under Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) oversight.
Has the Multistate Trust investigated the contamination at and/or near the Site?
The Multistate Trust, under LDEQ oversight and approval, conducted a series of investigations to build on data initially collected by former Site owners, including Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation. These investigations are documented in reports prepared under Louisiana’s Risk Evaluation/Corrective Action Program (RECAP). The Multistate Trust found soil contamination on the Site and in areas around Scott-Dickerson Homes, on neighboring properties, and in nearby ditches.
Based on historical information from residents, the Multistate Trust plans to collect additional soil samples from residential areas located along: (1) Green Street and Scott Street between Dickerson Street and just west of Ward Street, (2) Green Street west of Hamilton Road, and (3) Carver Street, south of the Site. If sampling in these areas shows contamination, the Multistate Trust will continue to sample based on historical information and areas of known contamination.
Groundwater monitoring is also ongoing. Groundwater samples are taken twice a year from 20 monitoring wells at and near the Site, typically in May and October. The monitoring wells allow the Multistate Trust to sample groundwater from ±30 to ±70 feet below ground surface.
What type of contamination has been found at and/or near the Site?
Contaminants associated with creosote-based wood treatment operations, including benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and creosote, have been found at the Site.
PAHs have also been found in surface soil off-Site, including at Scott-Dickerson Homes, neighboring properties east of Scott Street, and in the ditches on the east side of the railroad tracks. The Multistate Trust has found that these contaminants migrated off-Site primarily in wastewater generated at the process areas of the wood treating facility.
Sampling shows that contamination is also present in the groundwater under the area between East Texas Street to the north, Cox Street to the south, and McArthur Street to the east. Because homes and buildings are connected to the public water supply, groundwater contamination does not pose a health risk to the public.
Are there health risks associated with the contamination at and near the Site?
The primary health risk associated with the PAH-contaminated soil is incidental ingestion of and/or skin contact with material contaminated with the PAHs found in the soil near the ground surface. If you have questions about health effects related to chemicals in the environment, contact the Louisiana Department of Public Health, Section of Environmental Epidemiology and Toxicology at (888) 293-7020.
WHAT IS THE EXCAVATION WORK AT AND NEAR SCOTT-DICKERSON HOMES?
The Multistate Trust has completed excavating and removing soil to address surface soil contamination at and around Scott-Dickerson Homes. This work was prioritized in order to minimize risks to residents. Excavation work began in February 2022 and was completed in December 2022.
The Multistate Trust excavated and removed soil to depths between 2 and 5 feet below the ground surface, depending on where contamination was found during sampling. After excavation, more soil samples were collected to confirm whether further excavation was needed. A work plan that describes the excavation (also referred to as the Interim Action) can be viewed here: Off-Site Residential Surface Soil Interim Action Work Plan, 2020.
Afterwards, the Multistate Trust began replacing the parking lot and underlying soil at Scott-Dickerson Homes. This work will protect future construction workers because clean fill under the new parking lot will prevent direct contact during any future parking lot repair work. This work was done in two phases and completed in December 2023.
During both projects, steps were taken to protect the health, safety, and security of residents and to minimize impacts on the community, including: air and dust monitoring, traffic control, work sequencing, noise and odor controls.
How did the Multistate Trust know where to excavate?
In order to identify areas for excavation, the Multistate Trust compared soil samples collected from Scott-Dickerson Homes to cleanup levels called “RECAP standards” which were established and approved by LDEQ under its Risk Evaluation and Corrective Action Program (RECAP). The Multistate Trust excavated soil in all areas where sampling results were above RECAP standards. Soil was excavated down to two or five feet in order to protect residents and utility workers from direct contact with contaminated soil.
Once excavation was complete, samples were collected from the walls and floors of each excavation area. The Multistate Trust compared those results to the RECAP standards to confirm whether additional excavation might be needed. Where these “confirmation samples” exceeded RECAP standards and there was room to excavate further in areas uncovered by buildings and without impacting utilities, additional soil was removed down to a maximum depth of five feet.
How were cleanup levels developed? How do we know that these levels are safe?
RECAP provides an approach to establishing safe cleanup levels or “RECAP standards.” For this Site, RECAP standards were established and approved by LDEQ using standard regulatory practices, which incorporate multiple assumptions and safety factors designed to prevent adverse health effects if a person is exposed. These methods also incorporate scientific studies that evaluate the potential for health effects. Combining the scientific literature with the safety factors, the LDEQ regulators have concluded the cleanup levels are safe.
The Multistate Trust is performing additional sampling in residential yards north of Green Street and south of the Main Property. When will this take place?
At community meetings in 2021, residents expressed concerns that ditches may have flooded into additional residential areas, potentially spreading contamination further into the community beyond areas that had been investigated. Based on these first-hand historical accounts, the Multistate Trust is sampling additional properties in three residential areas along: (1) Green Street and Scott Street between Dickerson Street and just west of Ward Street, (2) Green Street west of Hamilton Road, and (3) Carver Street, south of the Site.
The additional soil sampling is expected to occur in two phases. The first phase was completed in February 2023, and 31 samples were collected from 18 properties. An additional 28 locations (on 24 properties) are eligible to be sampled during the second phase. The second phase is expected to occur later in 2023 and 2024, once the Multistate Trust is able to obtain permission from additional property owners. If you would like soil on your property sampled, please reach out to the Multistate Trust to find out if your property is eligible.
What are the Multistate Trust’s plans for the excavation/cleanup activities on the Site?
In order to minimize potential exposure to residents, the Multistate Trust is investigating and cleaning up soil contamination in the neighborhood close to the Site before addressing on-Site contamination. Once the residential cleanup is complete, and likely beginning in 2024, the Multistate Trust will evaluate and propose cleanup options for the Site. The cleanup levels that can be achieved at the Site will inform future redevelopment opportunities, which could include potential industrial or commercial reuses. Future uses must be consistent with any land use restrictions that may be required because of environmental conditions.
How will the Site be reused after it is remediated?
The Site’s future use has not been decided. The Multistate Trust hopes to work with community members and stakeholders to identify potential future safe reuse(s) for the Site. Transfer or sale of the Site or any portion of it must be approved by LDEQ and the United States.
Cleanup actions proposed by the Multistate Trust for the Site will take into consideration a range of potential industrial or commercial future reuses. If you have ideas about potential future Site reuses, please contact Claire Woods, the Multistate Trust’s Director of Environmental Justice Policies and Programs, at cw@g-etg.com or (910) 765-7237.
Who receives the proceeds once the property is eventually sold?
If the property is ready for reuse, it can be sold to the next user, consistent with any land use restrictions that may be required because of environmental conditions and with community members’ vision for the future of the Site.
The proceeds from any sale would be used to fund additional cleanup activities at or near the Site. If there are no further cleanup activities needed at the Site, the proceeds would go to fund cleanups at other former Tronox/Kerr-McGee sites now owned by Multistate Trust.
Can I receive compensation related to the contamination at the Site?
The Tronox Incorporated Tort Claims Trust (the Tort Trust) was established by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to receive and process claims against Tronox for personal injury (health/medical) or property damage.
The Multistate Trust is not affiliated with or related to the Tort Trust, and cannot accept, process or pay personal injury or property damage claims. If you have questions about personal injury or property damage claims, please contact the Tronox Tort Claims Trust at (800) 753-2480 (toll-free) or tronoxtorttrust@epiqglobal.com. For more information, visit the Tronox Tort Claims Trust website at www.tronoxtorttrust.com.
How do I sign up to receive more information about the Site?
To be added to our mailing list, please reach out to Claire Woods at cw@g-etg.com or (910) 765-7237, or fill out our contact form here.