McCormick & Baxter Creosoting Co. (Portland Plant)

Overview

McCormick and Baxter Creosoting Company ran a wood-treating facility on the east bank of the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, from 1944 until October 1991. The site covers 41 acres on land and another 23 acres of contaminated river sediments. EPA placed it on the National Priorities List in May 1994. It remains on that list today, and the site has not yet met all criteria for unrestricted reuse.

Contaminants include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as naphthalene, fluorene, anthracene, pyrene, phenanthrene, benzo[a]pyrene, chrysene, and fluoranthene. Inorganic contaminants include arsenic. Other substances found on site are pentachlorophenol (PCP), dioxins, and dibenzofurans. These chemicals reached soils, groundwater, and river sediments. Underground plumes of non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL), a dense oily contamination, migrated toward the river and under a nearby railway right-of-way.

Cleanup work ran from the mid-1990s through the early 2010s. Workers demolished the plant, excavated and disposed of contaminated soil off site, installed a subsurface barrier wall, recovered and treated NAPL, and placed a multi-layer cap over contaminated sediments in the Willamette River. Warning buoys were also installed. Additional removal actions addressed asbestos, stormwater containment, and process waste. Sediment cleanup wrapped up in September 2013. The site is divided into four operable units covering groundwater, soils, sediments, and a sitewide designation.

Human exposure is currently under control, and contaminated groundwater migration is stabilized with no unacceptable discharge to surface water. However, long-term protectiveness still requires updating the groundwater remedy with new cleanup goals and compliance points, plus formal institutional controls on soil and groundwater use. The most recent five-year review was completed in September 2021, with the next one estimated between September and November 2026. The City of Portland's 2001 reuse assessment identified passive and active recreation as likely future uses, and native vegetation including cottonwoods, willows, and spiraea has already been planted along the riverbanks by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

Community members with questions can contact the EPA Remedial Project Manager or the Community Involvement Coordinator. For state-related questions, contact Oregon DEQ. Site documents, including the 2021 Fifth Five-Year Review and annual operation and maintenance reports, are available through EPA's Superfund website and Oregon DEQ's dedicated McCormick and Baxter page.