This article has been updated with correct information on Operable unit 2
In-person meetings on the Navassa superfund site are set to resume this month at the Navassa Community Center, with COVID-19 precautions and virtual meeting options.
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Opportunities for the public to ask officials questions regarding the Kerr-McGee Corp. Superfund Site in Navassa and a community meeting are set for June 22, and a contractor information session is slated for June 23.
A virtual-only availability is set for noon to 1:30 p.m. June 22, and an in-person-only public availability is set for 4 to 5:30 p.m. June 22. The community meeting, which the public can attend in-person or virtually, is set to begin at 6 p.m. June 22.
Times set aside for public availability are for community members to talk with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and Multistate Environmental Response Trust representatives about plans for the site and have questions answered.
From 1936 to 1974, Kerr-McGee and other companies operated a creosote-based wood treating facility on about 70 acres of the 246-acre former Kerr-McGee property from 1936 to 1974. By 1980, Kerr-McGee had dismantled the wood-treatment buildings and facilities but contamination remained. The property is bounded by the Brunswick River, Sturgeon Creek, a residential area and a light industrial area.
The Multistate Trust is working with its beneficiaries for the Navassa Site, the EPA and NCDEQ on site investigation and reuse.
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During the community meeting, EPA, NCDEQ and Multistate Trust representatives are expected to provide information on the partial deletion of Operable Unit 1, a risk assessment update for Operable Unit 2, a milestone timeline for 2021 and beyond and recent and upcoming sampling.
Comments are being accepted until June 14 on the proposed partial deletion of Operable Unit 1 from the National Priorities List. This part of the former wood-treatment site where treated and untreated logs were stored has been deemed free from contamination and proposed for unrestricted residential land use.
Operable unit 2 is just south of OU1 and includes about 15 acres.
The contractor information session set for noon to 1:30 p.m. June 23, both in person and virtual, is when the Multistate Trust is expected to discuss potential contracting needs for upcoming excavation work at the site.
To join by phone, Call 301-715-8592. If prompted for a participant ID, press #, enter meeting ID 946 584 8922# and enter passcode 664564#.
To join online, use Zoom link or enter tinyurl.com/NavassaMeetings.
In 2010, groundwater, soil, and sediment contamination by creosote-related chemicals led the EPA to add the former Kerr-McGee property to the National Priorities List of federal Superfund sites. Officials say site contamination does not threaten people living or working near the Superfund Site.
