Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp - Jacksonville

Overview

The Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp site is a 31-acre former fertilizer and pesticide production facility on the west bank of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. Operations ran from 1893 to 1978, leaving soil and groundwater contaminated. The EPA added the site to the Superfund National Priorities List in March 2010. Cleanup is divided into two operable units. Operable Unit 1 (OU-1) covers site soils, groundwater, and river sediment. Operable Unit 2 (OU-2) covers Deer Creek sediment.

EPA has identified 127 contaminants of concern at the site. These include heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury. Pesticides including DDT, dieldrin, aldrin, and chlordane are present, along with organic chemicals like benzene, vinyl chloride, and trichloroethene in groundwater. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, and radionuclides including radium-226 and uranium-238 have also been detected. Contaminated media include groundwater, soil, sediment, surface water, and sludge.

Current contamination does not threaten nearby residents or businesses because the site is fenced, undeveloped, and unoccupied, and nearby properties connect to the public water system rather than private wells. Human exposure to contamination is under control. However, groundwater migration has not been stabilized, and physical construction of the full cleanup is not yet complete. For OU-1, EPA issued a cleanup plan in December 2016 and modified it in 2022. Cleanup methods include capping contaminated areas, consolidating waste onsite, solidification and stabilization of contaminants in place, hydraulic containment, vertical extraction wells, and offsite disposal of excavated material. The second phase of OU-1 remedial action began in early 2025 and is expected to finish by 2028. For OU-2, a remedial investigation and feasibility study began in August 2019 and is still in progress. A five-year review is estimated to occur between September and November 2026. The Multistate Environmental Response Trust, formed after Tronox filed for bankruptcy in 2009, funds cleanup work alongside the EPA and Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The Trust also has a contract to sell the property once OU-1 remediation is completed and approved. Zoning restrictions prevent residential use, and institutional controls limit other incompatible land uses.

Community members can stay involved through public notices, meetings, and interviews run by the EPA. The Trust maintains a website with site documents and sends updates to a mailing list roughly once a year. Key documents are also available at the Jacksonville Public Library Eastside Branch at 1390 Harrison Street. Two EPA staff members are available to answer public questions directly.