Oregon DEQ adjusts timeline for cleanup of Eugene homes contaminated by J.H. Baxter
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality announced last week it would delay the timeline it previously provided for soil cleanup of the first seven homes contaminated by former wood processing plant J.H. Baxter.
At an event in November, DEQ officials gave an optimistic projection that soil replacement for these first seven homes where the agency found toxic levels of dioxin would begin after Thanksgiving and end before Christmas.
The agency now says this first round of soil replacement will begin in January and end in Spring. In a press release, the DEQ said the delay was "due to contracting setbacks."
J.H. Baxter "mothballed" the facility on Jan. 31, 2022. The plant had operated since 1940 and had a history of environmental violations. DEQ oversaw testing in nearby soil, discovering dioxins in some.
Over two rounds of testing, the agency found 11 yards with dioxin above 40 parts per trillion (ppt), enough to harm young children. The seven of these homes identified in the first round of testing will be the first to have their soil replaced, which is now projected to occur in early 2024.
DEQ initially projected it would replace the soil of the first three contaminated homes in June 2022 but delayed this to late summer 2022 "due to the complexity of individual removal plans." Cleanup was then delayed to early 2023 after DEQ found the contamination went deeper than initially realized. DEQ then delayed cleanup to summer 2023 to conduct additional testing.
Alan Torres covers local government for the Register-Guard. He can be reached over email at atorres@registerguard.com or on twitter @alanfryetorres.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Cleanup of Eugene homes contaminated by J.H. Baxter delayed
