Project to decontaminate basin takes spotlight in northwest Springfield site cleanup

After a decade of monitoring and cleanup efforts, the Multistate Environmental Response Trust continues to work with residential properties potentially contaminated with creosote from the former Kerr-McGee Wood Treatment Facility.

The facility at 2800 W. High St. treated railroad ties from 1907 until 2004. The ties were treated with creosote — a mixture of chemicals that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified as a probable human carcinogen — and contaminated the soil and groundwater on the plot and the surrounding area. The Multistate Trust, a private entity created as part of an earlier legal settlement, has been working on monitoring, studying and cleaning up pollution from the site since 2011.

Creosote entered the soil and water during the operations by dripping onto bare soil as part of the wood treatment process and through unlined lagoons where creosote was separated from the water as it sank to the bottom.

On Wednesday evening, the Multistate Trust, in coordination with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, hosted a meeting at the Library Station for neighbors and community members to hear updates about their work.

So far, domestic well samples, public drinking water samples and residential soil samples have all returned with contaminant levels below the regulatory limits that would pose risk to health. Multistate Trust Program Director Tasha Lewis said quarterly monitoring of drinking water will continue.

She said the main focus will now shift toward addressing the Golden Hills Detention Basin, an area a half-mile north of the facility, where creosote has been found and which is hydraulically connected to the facility, meaning water flows directly from the facility to this area. Currently, the basin is fenced in and has a hazardous waste sign in front of it. Lewis said the goal is to one day see the fence and sign removed and have the area be safe for neighbors.

The Multistate Trust hopes to install constructed treatment wetlands that beautify the area while also treating the contaminated water. Lewis said the preliminary timeline for the project is to get the pre-design work plan approved by MoDNR by the end of the year, begin construction in 2025 and have it completed in 2026.

"If we can stop that contamination from going into the Woodlawn Spring branch, that then starts to get to the space where we have much more confidence, I would say, that we wouldn't have any more real concerns about the potential impact to the public water supply sources," she said.

The sampling of drinking water will continue at least until the work on the basin is completed. Then, decisions about whether or when to stop quarterly sampling could be made.

Focus on residents

Lewis said those living by Kerr-McGee sites both in Springfield and elsewhere in the country are disproportionately affected, whether that be by the stigma of trying to sell a home, possible health effects or the loss of jobs following the facility's closure. At the heart of the cleanup efforts has been protecting the community from further exposure to hazardous chemicals by collecting various samples to measure levels of contamination.

When it comes to surface soil sampling, Lewis said they will focus on sampling the first row of houses north of the facility abutting West High Street between Golden and Fulbright Avenues. She said this is due to finding out from residents about historic flooding on the street which could have lead to further contamination of surface soil on those plots. Surface soil includes the first three feet of the soil that can be contaminated by substances entering the soil from the top, which can pose the greatest risk to residents of a home. One of these properties has already been sampled with results expected in September.

Next steps also include the replacement of residential sewer lateral pipes. Lewis said around 30 properties will receive new pipes, mainly concentrated to the northeast of the facility where the majority of contamination has been observed. This will be done in two phases with the first phase focusing on the neighborhood north of High Street between Fulbright and Clifton.

She said properties were selected based on their proximity to the facility, previously observed contamination on video footage by the city and whether the pipes have any cracks in them. All replacement will be done at no cost to the residents, commercial and industrial properties are not included.

"It's a large coordination effort," Lewis said. "It will be intrusive ... We're going to be digging in your backyard."

The road ahead

Lewis reported that as of June, the Multistate Trust has recovered more than 6,500 gallons of creosote since 2011. While it sounds like a large number, it is likely a very small amount considering how much was potentially dumped within the 100 years of facility operations.

"Yes, that's good news, but that's not very much," Lewis said. "That's a drop in the bucket when we look at what happened over the long term."

Since 2004, more than 91 million gallons of contaminated groundwater has been treated or discharged. Lewis said this is a hard and lengthy process especially after it rains as a lot more water infiltrates the ground. They are trying to find solutions.

Options include a slurry wall around a portion or entirety of the area or planting trees that would pull up the water and contamination from the surface in a process called phytoremediation. Some of these options are more expensive than others and the karst topography of the area complicates installation of these options. Lewis said the current process of pumping and treating the water is an expensive one and will not be sustainable for the long term.

As these efforts continue, Lewis said she hopes that 2024 can offer more time to look toward the future and reuse of the site.

"We want to turn this vacant land and this facility into a community asset," she said.

More: Funding becomes a concern as expensive cleanup continues at contaminated Springfield site

Councilman Abe McGull, Mayor Ken McClure and City Manager Jason Gage were among those who attended the meeting. Councilwoman Monica Horton was there before the meeting began, speaking to Lewis individually and visiting with community members.

McGull asked about any health assessments performed with residents around the facility to understand any adverse health effects the contamination could have inflicted. Michelle Hartman from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said no such assessments have been conducted but a cancer inquiry can be requested by the residents.

This was the second meeting of its kind this year. The first one took place in February. More information and all the documents associated with the site can be found online at springfield.greenfieldenvironmental.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield Kerr-McGee site cleanup focuses on contaminated basin