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Superfund Program Implements the Recovery Act
Escambia Wood Treating Company
Pensacola, FloridaSite Description
The Escambia Wood Treating Company (ETC) is a former wood treating facility that operated from 1942 until 1982; the owner abandoned the facility in 1991. The approximately 90-acre site is composed of the 26-acre former ETC facility and over 60 acres of nearby neighborhoods acquired by the government. The site is located in a mixed industrial, commercial and residential area. The affected residents are part of an environmental justice community. The primary contaminants of concern include creosote-related compounds, pentachlorophenol and dioxin, which occurred as an impurity in pentachlorophenol. These contaminants affect surface soils on the ETC facility and nearby properties. On the ETC facility, contaminants leached into subsurface soils and into ground water.
Cleanup Activities to Date
EPA added the site to the National Priorities List in 1994. Prior to listing, EPA actions included stabilizing the site and securing more than 200,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil in 1991 and 1992. From 1997 to 2008, EPA relocated over 400 households as part of the National Relocation Pilot. In 2007, EPA began implementing the final cleanup approach for soil, which involves excavating contaminated soil and placing it in an on-site containment cell. The approach for ground water cleanup is in-situ treatment of contamination.
Recovery Act Project Activity
EPA will use the up to $5 million in Recovery Act funds allocated to this site to speed up the ongoing cleanup of off-site properties and to more quickly eliminate human exposure pathways to contaminants. The Recovery Act funding will also accelerate ongoing on-site construction, which will lead to completion of the soil cleanup earlier. The acceleration in construction will make possible the completion of a key phase of work by June 1, 2009, the beginning of hurricane season. Speeding up the cleanup schedule will make the site available for earlier redevelopment; the County and City are planning to create an industrial park, which is projected to support 1,714 jobs, in the area.
To find out more about:
- This Superfund site, go to: http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/npl/nplfln/escwodfl.htm;
- The Recovery Act and:
- Superfund and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, go to: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/eparecovery/index.html;
- EPA and ARRA, go to: http://www.epa.gov/recovery; and
- ARRA across the United States, go to: http://www.recovery.gov.