"Community Involvement Plan, Kerr Mcgee Chemical
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT PLAN Kerr McGee Chemical Superfund Site Navassa, North Carolina Revised November 2017 \ 5' ID 55 0 u. s. environmental protection agency REGION IV Approved by: Date : The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Superfund Community Involvement Program is committed TO PROMOTING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CITIZENS AND THE AGENCY. Active public involvement is crucial to the success of any public project. EPA’s community involvement activities at the Kerr McGee Chemical Superfund Site ARE designed TO Inform the public of the nature of the environmental issues associated with the site, Involve the public in the decision-making process that will affect them, Involve the public in the responses under consideration to remedy these issues, and Inform the public of the progress being made to implement the remedy. Table of Contents Section Page 1.0 Overview of the Community Involvement Plan............. .........................................4 2.0 Capsule Site Description...........................................................................................5 2.1 Site History................... 5 2.2 Site Description/Location...................................................................................6 2.3 Site Inspections and Cleanup Activities............................................................. 8 3.0 Community Background........................ 11 3.1 Community Profile........................................................................................11 3.2 History of Community Involvement..............................................................14 3.3 Key Community Concerns............................ 15 3.4 Response to Community Concerns................................................................16 3.5 Summary of Communication Needs........................................................... 17 4.0 EPA’s Community Involvement Program.............................................................19 4.1 The Plan..................................................................................................... 19 4.2 Time Frame Summary for Community Involvement Activities........ ..........24 5.0 Multistate Trust Community Involvement Support.............................................. 25 Appendices: A EPA Regional Contacts.......................................................................................... 26 B Local Officials........................................ 27 C State Elected Officials.............. 28 D Federal Elected Officials.................................... 29 E State Environmental Agencies & Active Citizen Groups...................................... 30 F Potentially Responsible Parties......................................... 31 G Media Contacts...................................................................................................... 32 H Meeting Locations .................................................................................................34 I Repository Locations............................................................................................. 35 J Multistate Trust...................................................................................................... 36 K Fact sheets................................ 37 L Glossary................................................................................................... .•............40 Figures: 1 Site Map.................................................................. 7 2 Property Boundary Map.......................................................................................... 8 3 EJ Screen Map....................................................................................................... 13 Kerr-McGee Chemical Revised November 2017 Community Involvement Plan Pages Section 1.0 Overview of the Community Involvement Plan The EPA developed this Community Involvement Plan (CIP) to facilitate tw^o-way communication between the community surrounding the Kerr McGee Chemical Superfimd Site (Site) and the EPA and to encourage community involvement in Site remediation activities. The EPA will utilize the community involvement activities outlined in this plan to inform area residents about the Site and provide opportunities for community involvement. This CIP addresses the Kerr McGee Chemical Site’s relationship to the community and the EPA (Section 2.0), provides a description of the community (Section 3.0), presents the EPA’s community involvement program (Section 4.0), and provides a listing of resources available (Appendices). The EPA drew upon several information sources to develop this plan, including community interviews and Site files. The EPA’s Regional Office will oversee the implementation of the community involvement activities outlined in this Plan. Kerr-McGee Chemical Revised November 2017 Community Involvement Plan Page 4 Section 2.0 Capsule Site Description 2.1 Site History The Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation Superfimd Site (the Site) located in Navassa, North Carolina, operated as a wood treating facility from 1936 until 1974. Site operations involved pressure treating dried lumber with creosote, a tar like solution for wood preservation purposes. Creosote is a thick oily liquid that is made up of a mixture of chemicals. The major chemicals in coal tar creosote are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Creosote is most commonly used to preserve wood, but is also use as a pesticide. The creosote was typically stored in above-ground tanks and treated lumber was allowed to drip- dry outside. The wood treatment process generated wastewater, which was treated on the Site. A conjoined pair of unlined settling ponds on the Site were used to separate and reclaim creosote. The Site was dismantled in 1980 when creosote in the settling ponds were reclaimed and creosote sludge from the ponds/product storage tanks were mixed with soil and disposed into the wastewater ponds. The Potentially Responsible Party (PRP), Kerr-McGee Corporation, removed equipment, buildings and storage tanks from the Site and emptied on- Site wastewater ponds in the 1980. As a direct result of the former manufacturing and dismantling activities, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were detected in the soil and groundwater on-site. PAH’s were also detected in sediments of the marsh adjacent to the Site. In 2003, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) referred the Site to the EPA. In 2004, the EPA entered into an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) with PRP Kerr-McGee Corporation. In 2006, Kerr-McGee created Tronox, LLC (Tronox) as a spin-off corporation. Tronox assumed responsibility for the cleanup in Navassa. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation later acquired Kerr-McGee. In 2006, the EPA and Tronox entered into an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent (AOC) to conduct a remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS) at the Site under the Superfimd Alternative Approach. The initial phases of the remedial investigation have been completed. Following completion of the Site investigations, the EPA will issue a draft cleanup plan for public review and comments before updating and finalizing the plan. Initially, Site cleanup activities were conducted by the PRP, Tronox, successor to Kerr- McGee Chemical, LLC under EPA’s Superfimd Alternative Site program and pursuant to a previous AOC. Tronox filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2009. Kerr-McGee Chemical Revised November 2017 Community Involvement Plan Page 5 In April 2010, the EPA listed the Site on the National Priorities List (NPL) because of contaminated groundwater, soil and sediment. Site contamination does not currently threaten people living and working near the Site. In 2011, the Bankruptcy Courts approved its plan of reorganizing Tronox, which included the creation of several environmental response trusts, including the Multistate Environmental Response Trust and the Anadarko Litigation Trust. The Multistate Trust is an environmental response trust with responsibility for: owning and managing more than 400 former Kerr-McGee Sites in twenty-four (24) states; performing environmental actions at the Sites using the limited funds initially earmarked for each Site and the proceeds from the Anadarko Litigation Trust, if any, as explained below; and facilitating the safe redevelopment and long-term stewardship of the Sites. The Multistate Trust has a (fiduciary) duty of loyalty to its two beneficiaries—the US government and the 24 participating states. The Site-specific Multistate Trust funds can only be used to perform cleanup activities that have been approved by the beneficiaries of the Multistate Trust. Land sales must be approved by the beneficiaries and sale proceeds are used to help pay for Site cleanup. The Greenfield Environmental Multistate Trust is the named Trustee for the Multistate Environmental Response Trust. In December of 2013 the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the southern district of New York decided against Kerr-McGee Corporation and related companies that are subsidiaries of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in a fraudulent lawsuit hearing. The lawsuit alleges that Kerr- McGee committed fraud by deliberately transferring hundreds of hazardous waste Sites into Tronox, a shell created by Kerr-McGee without the money needed to pay for the cleanups. Afterwards, Kerr-McGee sold its most valuable oil and gas assets to Anadarko. Based on negotiations involving the government attorneys and experts during the bankruptcy proceedings, individual Sites were assigned