Picayune Wood Treating

Overview

The Picayune Wood Treating site covers 31.5 acres in Picayune, Mississippi, where a wood-treating facility operated from around 1946 until 1999. Workers pressure-treated lumber with preservative chemicals, including creosote and pentachlorophenol. Those operations contaminated groundwater, soil, and sediment across the site. The facility sits near a public park, a day care center, residences, and Southside Elementary School. Two on-site ditches drain into Mill Creek, which flows into the Pearl River where people fish and boat. EPA placed the site on the National Priorities List in July 2004, and active cleanup has been underway since 2002.

The main contaminants of concern are creosote and its components (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), pentachlorophenol, and dioxin, found in soil, sediment, and groundwater. Although surface water contamination was a major concern early on, cleaning up contaminated soil has greatly reduced the spread of contamination into surface water. Residents get their drinking water from municipal wells operated by the City of Picayune. The city monitors and treats that water before distribution, so residents are not at risk from site contamination through their drinking water. EPA has assessed human exposure to site contaminants as currently under control.

EPA and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality have led cleanup efforts together. Between 2007 and 2008, crews removed about 40,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil and sediment from residential properties and Mill Creek. From 2011 to 2013, workers installed slurry walls and soil-capped containment cells to isolate roughly 180,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil in the main treatment areas. Construction of cleanup work for the entire site was completed in December 2020. A pilot study for groundwater treatment using enhanced biological methods began in March 2018, and full-scale groundwater treatment is anticipated to follow. Groundwater cleanup is expected to continue for approximately ten years. Institutional controls restrict building on disposal areas and prohibit groundwater use. Zoning restrictions also guide land use to keep activities consistent with the level of cleanup completed.

The most recent five-year review was completed in January 2022, and the next is estimated between January and March 2027. Five-year reviews are required whenever hazardous substances remain at a site above levels that allow unrestricted use. Although construction is complete, the site has not yet achieved all cleanup goals needed for its anticipated future use, and it remains on the National Priorities List. Portions of the site are available for reuse and redevelopment under a Reuse and Redevelopment Plan prepared through EPA's Superfund Redevelopment Program.

Community members can stay involved through public notices, public meetings, and interviews with residents that EPA conducts throughout the cleanup process. Site records are also available at the Crosby Public Library at 900 Goodyear Boulevard in Picayune. For direct questions, residents can contact EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or the site's Remedial Project Manager using the contact information below.