Wednesday, February 11, 2015

SETTLEMENT RESULTS IN $19 MILLION FOR CLEANUP AT CONTAMINATED SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI SITE. THE SITE USED TO MANUFACTURE RAILROAD TIES, DIPPING THEM INTO CREOSOTE




 

SETTLEMENT RESULTS IN $19 MILLION FOR CLEANUP AT CONTAMINATED SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI SITE.  THE SITE USED TO MANUFACTURE RAILROAD TIES, DIPPING THEM INTO CREOSOTE


February 11, 2015

Springfield and Kansas City will receive more than $38 million to clean up contaminated soil and water as part of record national environmental bankruptcy settlement.

Attorney General Chris Koster made the announcement Tuesday morning from the former Kerr-McGee plant in northwest Springfield. From 1907-2003, the site was used for creosote wood treatment, which Koster says led to contaminated soil and groundwater within its 64 acre area.

“Included in this settlement is more than $19 million to clean up this facility here in Springfield. A site that has sat idle for more than 11 years,” Koster said.
The settlement involves Tronox, a spin-off of energy company Kerr-McGee, which eventually filed for bankruptcy citing the crippling costs of its environmental liabilities. In 2006, the remainder of Kerr-McGee’s assets were purchased by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation.

Missouri and other states intervened in the bankruptcy process, and as part of the $5.15 billion national settlement reached Tuesday, Koster says Anadarko has accepted responsibility and will pay for the cleanup of contaminated sites across the country.

He says restoration of sites in Springfield and Kansas City will not only protect the public health and the environment, but also return land back into the local economy.

“In addition to the cleanup, Anadarko will pay $5,732,000 to Missouri’s Natural Resources Damages Program. That money will be used by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for groundwater restoration here and at other sites across the state.”

Some of the settlement money will be used initially to test the “full scope of environmental damage” at the site, Koster said, adding that officials believe the contamination is limited to within the fence line of the former plant site.
Creosote, the chemical used to treat the wood at Kerr-McGee, contains many different chemicals, some of which are carcinogens.

Jack McManus, who heads the AG’s environmental division, says the contamination of the Springfield site likely evolved through its nearly 100 years in operation.

“I think early on they might have just used pits in order to dip the creosote. Later they did change over to tanks by the end of the process. But they also had some industrial spills even when they had that process setup that ended up contaminating the ground water,” McManus said.
McManus adds that the funds will also allow for continual monitoring of the site after initial testing and cleanup.

Koster says prior to Tuesday’s settlement, environmental cleanup at the former Kerr-McGee site has been conducted through the installation of wells that draw the existing water towards the center of the property for cleaning and which keeps the water from moving beyond the site boundaries.



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Attorney General Chris Koster will be in Springfield on Tuesday for a news conference at the site of a former railroad tie manufacturing plant noted for the "creosote-laden soil and sludge" left behind on the property.

A news release Monday said Koster would be at 2800 W. High St. at 10 a.m. to announce a settlement in a "landmark environmental bankruptcy case, resulting in millions (of dollars) for cleanup and restoration of a contaminated site in Springfield."

The release didn't provide any other detail about the announcement. But the location — a block south of Kearney Street, between Kansas Expressway and West Bypass — is the site of a former Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp. facility.
The plant, which began operations in 1907 as American Creosote Co., was purchased by Kerr-McGee in 1965, according to News-Leader archives. An estimated 900,000 railroad ties a year were treated with creosote at the plant, which closed more than a decade ago.

A byproduct of coal tar, creosote has been commonly used to preserve wood, among other things. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies it as a possible human carcinogen.


The Kerr-McGee plant on High Street has been the site of several reported creosote leaks over the years, with varied response.
A March 8, 1977 article from the News-Leader archive notes that the company was "honored for stopping (a) creosote leak" after creosote dumped into a waste treatment lagoon on the property was found seeping into the groundwater. "Globules of the pollutant" were found in a spring "three quarters of a mile away," the story said.
The "creosote-laden soil and sludge" quote comes from a Sept. 1, 1989 story about the company's plans to treat the polluted soil using bacteria. The story noted that the EPA had reviewed the company's plans, which included monitoring groundwater at the site for at least 30 years.
The plant was in the news again in April 2004 as environmental authorities investigated the apparently intentional dumping of creosote into the city's sewer system.
The dumping "disrupted the Springfield Northwest Sewage Treatment Plant by killing bacteria that breaks down sewage at the facility," according to an April 3 story in the News-Leader. The story noted that prior to the discovery, an out-of-town demolition crew had been working at the plant, which was being decommissioned.