Culpeper Wood Preservers, Inc.

Overview

Culpeper Wood Preservers, Inc. is an active 20-acre wood treatment facility in Culpeper County, Virginia. It was added to the Superfund National Priority List (NPL) on October 4, 1989. The site has been under remedial investigation since September 1990, and cleanup is divided into two operable units. The final remedy has not yet been chosen, and the site has not been removed from the NPL.

The facility once treated lumber using a chromated copper arsenate process, leaving contaminated drippings on uncovered ground. In early 1981, a retention pond breach released about 100,000 gallons of wastewater. That release spread arsenic and chromium into soils, sediments, surface water, and groundwater both on and off the property. Private well sampling starting in 2008 found arsenic, hexavalent chromium, and copper in residential wells downhill from the site. An unnamed tributary roughly 750 yards northeast of the site, extending about three miles before reaching Jonas Run, could also be affected. Arsenic is a known carcinogen. Hexavalent chromium is a potential inhalation carcinogen, a skin irritant, and can harm internal organs when ingested.

Jefferson Homebuilders Inc. is the owner and potentially responsible party. Starting in 1981, they were required to upgrade drip pads, monitor groundwater, and rebuild the retention pond. EPA launched a time-critical removal action in 2020 after determining the contamination posed a public health threat. That action closed contaminated private wells and connected 18 nearby residential and commercial properties to municipal water. Waterline construction began in July 2020, was substantially complete in August 2022, and the remaining contaminated wells were closed in September 2022. A separate removal action under EPA oversight ran from November 2021 through January 2023.

The combined remedial investigation and feasibility study for Operable Unit 01 is expected to wrap up between November 2026 and January 2027. A Record of Decision selecting the final cleanup method is targeted for August through October 2027. Remedial design work is estimated to begin between November 2027 and January 2028. One business currently operates on-site, employing 130 people and generating about $7.4 million in annual sales.

Community members can get involved by contacting the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator. Fact sheets are available in English and Spanish. Site documents can be reviewed online or in person at the Culpeper County Library or at the EPA Region 3 office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Appointments to view records at the regional office can be scheduled by calling the EPA office directly.