PUBLIC HEALTH ASSESSMENT
McCORMICK & BAXTER CREOSOTING COMPANY (PORTLAND)
PORTLAND, MULTNOMAH COUNTY, OREGON
The McCormick and Baxter Creosoting site is located on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. The company terminated operations in 1991, and clean-up activities have been initiated.
ATSDR considers the site to have been a public health hazard for former plant workers because of past ingestion exposure to arsenic, creosote, pentachlorophenol, polychlorinated dibenzodioxins, and dibenzofurans at levels of public health concern. Past estimated exposure doses indicate a low to moderate increased cancer risk. Additional exposure via inhalation or skin contact could increase the health risk. The site also poses an ongoing and future public health hazard because people might encounter hazardous chemicals along the shoreline on or near the site at levels that can damage the skin, as was reported to have happened to two boys. Finally, dioxin levels would pose a public health hazard if people subsist on crayfish and suckers contaminated with polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans.
The site poses an indeterminate public health hazard for nearby residents because of past, present, and future inhalation exposure. Insufficient information regarding air contaminant levels makes accurate evaluation of inhalation exposure impossible. Some of the information needed for evaluation of exposure, especially past exposures, might never be acquired. Community members reported odors and lung effects, including bronchitis, breathing difficulties, lung tissue damage, lung spots, and lung cancer. These self-reported symptoms have not been confirmed by ATSDR. The source or sources of air contaminants causing odors that continue to be reported by community members has not been determined. The adverse lung symptoms are non-specific symptoms known to be experienced by people with no known exposure to hazardous waste, but they are also consistent with exposure to site-related contaminants.
In addition to odors and lung effects, community members have expressed concerns about cancer, the safety of produce from Sauvies Island, and skin burns from wading in the river.
Additional soil sampling on adjacent industrial properties and ambient air monitoring in odor-affected residential areas have been recommended. Air monitoring on site during certain remedial activities also has been recommended. In addition, the site should not be developed or otherwise accessed by the public until remediation measures are accomplished in a manner that effectively prevents human exposures from occurring at levels of public health concern. Community and health professions education has been recommended.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), located in Atlanta, Georgia, is
a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ATSDR, under the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA),
conducts public health assessments for sites the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
proposes for its National Priorities List (NPL). In June 1993, The EPA announced its proposal to
include the McCormick & Baxter Creosoting Company (MB) site on the NPL. Therefore,
ATSDR has, under its mandate, evaluated the public health significance of this site by
considering whether health effects are possible and has recommended actions to mitigate
possible future exposure.
A. Site Description
Background
MB treated wood at a site on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, downstream of Swan Island and upstream of the St. Johns Bridge (Figures 1 and 2). The property extends from the river to the base of a 120-foot high bluff in an area built with dredged materials in the early 1900s. MB was founded in 1944 and continued operation until October 1991, after which the owners vacated the premises. Wood treating materials used include creosote/oil mixtures, pentachlorophenol/oil mixtures, and several water-based solutions containing arsenic, chromium, copper, and zinc (1).
The principal facilities included retorts, a tank farm, a creosote tank, hazardous waste storage, a former waste disposal pond and trench, a dock, and office and laboratory buildings (1).
Waste-related activities reported include the following (1):
Releases of contaminants into the environment were first reported to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) in 1983. MB conducted preliminary investigations and had partially completed intitial remedial measures when they vacated the property in October 1991. ODEQ initiated a remedial investigation that began in 1990 and was completed in September 1992. Studies have shown that surface and subsurface soils, groundwater, and river sediments have been contaminated. Some chemicals have moved far below the surface and toward the Willamette River. In some areas, pools of creosote have accumulated at or below the water table (1).
Recent Remediation and Remediation Plans
ODEQ began in December 1991 to prevent releases of chemicals remaining at the site, to maintain site security, and to reduce storm water discharges. In December 1992, ODEQ began to implement interim clean-up measures that include pumping creosote and other oily wastes from extraction wells and installing cutoff trenches designed to capture pollutants seeping towards the river. The site perimeter fences have been extended into the tidal zone of the river to limit access to off-site sediment seeps exposed at low tide. Fences now surround essentially all the property except for a segment along the river. A system of buoys has been placed along the waterfront. Warning signs have been placed on the site perimeter (1,2).
A broader clean-up plan being proposed is summarized as follows (3):
B. Site Visit
Three ATSDR representatives--Stephanie Prausnitz, Don Gibeaut, and Greg Thomas--and
representatives of ODEQ, EPA, and the Oregon Department of Human Resources, Health
Division, visited the site on February 23, 1994. Public availability sessions also were held on
that day. Pertinent information obtained during that visit is described in appropriate sections of
this document.
C. Demographics
Land Use
Flat, low-lying segments of land on both sides of the Willamette River in the City of Portland have been developed extensively for light to heavy industry. The industrial property immediately northwest of the site, now vacant, once was used for shipbuilding and manufacturing wooden casks or tubs (1). ATSDR representatives observed industrial property immediately to the southeast being used to manufacture Portland cement products and to store privately owned chemical emergency and remedial response vehicles and associated equipment. That property is known to have been used previously as a barge maintenance and dredging facility (1). ATSDR reviewed old photographs that show substantial, but unidentifiable, activity there. A chemical company and petroleum refinery are on the waterfront across the river from the site (1).
ATSDR representatives also observed that the northeast side of the site is bordered by a 120-foot high bluff, which generally parallels the river. The area on and beyond the bluff is principally residential. The University of Portland, also on the bluff, is about 2,000 feet southeast of the site.
Demographics
The 1990 census (4,5) provides information about population density and population characteristics in the site area:
Density
Within ½ mile--approximately 1,100
Within 1 mile--approximately 7,900
Within 2 miles--approximately 28,000
Characteristics--Within ½ Mile
White--92.2%
Black--1.9%
American Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut--1.4%
Asian and Pacific Islander--3.9%
Hispanic--3.4%
Under 18 years old--16.6%
ODEQ advised ATSDR that about 45 persons were employed on site during the final years of operation.
Natural Resource Use
Groundwater and Surface Water
The city water department advised ATSDR that every residence, business, and industry in the area is connected to the public water system. The source of public water is primarily surface water obtained farther inland from water bodies that could not be affected by the site. That source is supplemented, when needed, by wells located more than 10 miles from the property.
Site studies indicate that there is substantive evidence that groundwater flow direction in the site area is toward the Willamette River (1). Hence, any wells on the bluff to the northeast, would be upgradient from the site and should not be affected by site releases. ATSDR representatives also reviewed records from the U.S. Geological Survey and the Oregon Water Resources Department for evidence of wells in the site vicinity (6). Those records showed that a few wells were installed years ago at locations as near as approximately one-half mile from the property, but the locations are hydraulically upgradient from the site.
ATSDR representatives observed that the Willamette river is used extensively for shipping. The river flows generally northward past the site and discharges into the Columbia River several miles from the property. ODEQ advised ATSDR that the Willamette River is not used as a public water supply source between the site and the Columbia River. Several towns, communities, and businesses downstream on the Columbia River either withdraw public water directly from the river or use groundwater withdrawn at locations beside or beneath the river that might be affected by river water quality.
River Biota
Studies show that salmon, steelhead trout, and other game fish and crayfish are abundant in the
river near the site (1).
D. Health Outcome Data
The State of Oregon maintains vital statistics (i.e., information about births and deaths). That
information is collected at the county level. Oregon has neither a cancer nor a birth defects
registry. No health studies on the workers at or the residents around the site were found.
COMMUNITY HEALTH CONCERNS
Several community members attended the ATSDR-sponsored public availability meeting, which was held in Portland on February 23, 1994. At that meeting, community members raised concerns about chemical odors in the air, both currently and in the past. One individual characterized the past odors as creosote-like. Another individual described waking up at night unable to breathe because of the "dark brown" smell coming from the site. Concern was expressed regarding cancer. A nonsmoker questioned whether contamination from the site caused the spots found on his lungs during an X-ray examination. One person who has lived in the area her entire life questioned whether there was a relationship between site-related exposure and her chronic bronchitis and lung tissue damage. Concern was also expressed about the safety of produce--including berries, peaches, cucumbers, and cabbage--harvested from a farm on Sauvies Island, located approximately one and one-half miles downstream from the site. Finally, community members told of two boys wading at the shore at the site's edge; they waded into contaminated sediments and sustained chemical burns to their legs. Health officials also reported this event to ATSDR during the site visit.
The concerns reported here are addressed in the Community Health Concerns Evaluation section of this public health assessment.
The McCormick and Baxter public health assessment was available for public review and comment in the local library and local neighborhood association office for a 60-day period ending April 10, 1995. The public comment period was announced in local newspapers. In addition, the public health assessment was sent to one individual. Several sets of commments were received. Specific comments and responses are summarized in Appendix C.
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