OSWER/OSRTI Washington, DC 20460


## N ATIONAL 

## P RIORITIES 

## L IST 

## (NPL)

***Final Site*** September 2011 

### KERR

- MCGEECHEMICAL Columbus , M ississippi Lowndes County CORP

-- COLUMBUS

 **Site Location :**  The Kerr

- McGee Chemical Corp - Columbus site consists of approximately 90 acres located e ast of the intersection of North 14th Avenue and North 21st Street in Columbus, Mississippi. The facility is closed, and all structures on the property have been demolished or dismantled. Access to the site is restricted by a fence that encloses the entire property.

 **Site History:** While operational, Kerr

- McGee manufactured pressure

- treated railroad products such as wooden cross ties, switch ties and timbers. T he production processes at the s ite utilized creosote and creosote tar solutions as well as pentachlorophenol (PCP) for wood treating. Structures formerly located on the Kerr

- McGee property include an in

ground pit, sumps, underground drip collection tanks, above

- ground tanks, a boiler, oil

- water se parators, surface impoundments, unlined sand filer beds, waste piles and a pine yard. Several closure actions had been conducted while the s ite was under Resource C onservation and R ecovery A ct (RCRA) corrective action; however, on

- site and off -s ite soil and sediment contamination still exists.

 **Site Contamination/Contaminants:**
Kerr

- McGee maintained an unlined hazardous waste surface impoundment as part of their wastewater treatment system. Kerr Mc

- Gee closed the surface impoundment in 1986 under a RCRA closure plan. However, post

- excavation sampling documented the presence of creosote and PCP contamination in sub

- surface soils below the backfilled impoundment . In addition to the closed impoundment, additional contamination has been detected in the former drip pad area, the railroad loading area and other process areas. A ground water plume has been identified beneath the

source areas on s ite that consists of free prod uct and dissolved product from plant operations.

 **Potential Impacts on Surrounding Community/Environment**  **:** Offsite migration of creosote, PCP and dioxin compounds have been documented in sediment samples collected from drainage ditches which leave the site, and contaminants have migrated to the surrounding residential neighborhoods.

 **Response Activities (to date):** Several closure activities were conducted by Kerr

- McGee and their successor, Tronox, LLC, under the EPA RCRA program and state oversight. The surface impoundment was excavated and backfilled, and some additional soil contamin ation and drainage ditch excavation was conducted. A ground water extraction and treatment system has been operational on the site since 1990.

 **Need for NPL Listing:**
The state and the EPA RCRA program referred th e site to EPA Superfund because Tronox, LL C, has declared bankruptcy and may not be able to fund the needed cleanup. Other federal and state cleanup programs were evaluated

, but are not viable at this time

. EPA received a letter of support for placing this site on the NPL from the s tate

.

[The description of the site (release) is based on information available at the time the site was evaluated with the HRS. The description may change as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination.]

For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ( ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1

- 888

- 42

- ATSDR or 1

- 888

- 422

- 8737.