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.
//______________________________________//
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.
