80-year-old Kerr-McGee plant on NPL

Jacksonville, Fla.-The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has added the old Kerr-McGee fertilizer plant, which began operating nearly 80 years ago, to its National Priorities List (Superfund), which could mean that the site is headed for a government-funded cleanup at some point in the future. It was one of three sites designated March 3, including the Kerr-McGee plant at Navassa, N.C. It isn’t clear as yet what approach would be taken to deal with benzene, DDT, toxaphene, arsenic, lead, and other pollutants at the site, but Region 4 spokeswoman Dawn Harris-Young said EPA expects to make a final decision around September. A proposal was put forward last year calling for a $20 million-plus cleanup starting sometime this year at the site in a Jacksonville industrial center on the edge of the St. Johns River. Jordan Gerrard, EPA project manager at the time, said an ambitious cleanup plan would have the current owner, Tronox Inc., purchase a section of the river bottom from the state to allow removal of contaminated sediments, which would then be buried at the site with other contaminants. Gerrard also said a bentonite slurry wall would be built in an excavation 40 to 45 feet deep along the property boundaries to prevent groundwater migration. A bulkhead made up of interlocking sheets of piling driven into the bedrock would connect into the slurry wall. Then a thick plastic barrier would be spread over the 31 acres, covered with fill dirt, and topped with concrete, asphalt, or landscaping. Sediment from the river would be disposed of behind the bulkhead. The plant was operated from 1919 until 1970 by various entities conducting pesticide and herbicide formulations and fertilizer and sulfuric acid manufacturing. Kerr-McGee Chemical LLC, which was acquired in 2006 by Houston-based based Anadarko Petroleum Corp., operated two plants for the formulation, blending, and packaging of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. The property was fenced to keep people out, and buildings were demolished years ago.