Burlington Northern (Brainerd/Baxter Plant)

Overview

A railroad-tie treatment facility operated on this site from about 1907 to 1986, straddling the Brainerd and Baxter, Minnesota area. Two shallow, unlined wastewater ponds left the soil and groundwater below contaminated with hazardous chemicals. The site was assessed in 1982, added to the EPA's National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983, and a cleanup plan was finalized in 1986.

Contaminants found in soil, groundwater, sludge, and leachate include benzene, creosote, phenol, naphthalene, and a range of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The PAHs include benzo[a]pyrene, chrysene, fluoranthene, pyrene, and several others. These substances pose an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment. The main cleanup risks come from people ingesting or touching contaminants in subsurface soil and groundwater.

Cleanup work ran from March 1987 through September 1995. It involved excavating contaminated soil, treating it on site through bioremediation, and capping visibly contaminated areas. An air injection system was built to extract and treat contaminated groundwater, and it successfully treated that contamination. BNSF Railway Company, identified as a responsible party, signed a 2012 agreement with EPA to evaluate remaining contamination and consider further cleanup options. EPA is currently overseeing a treatability study to see whether injecting more air into heavily contaminated zones can speed up the remaining cleanup.

Physical construction across the entire site is complete, and both human exposure and groundwater migration are currently under control. However, the site has not yet achieved sitewide ready-for-anticipated-use status. A five-year review completed in December 2021 found that current response actions protect public health and the environment in the short term. That review also recommended finishing the treatability study, updating the cleanup plan, and adding institutional controls to govern future land use. Those steps are underway. The next five-year review is estimated for late 2026 through early 2027. EPA continues to monitor groundwater to confirm contamination stays within its current boundaries.

Community members with questions can contact EPA staff directly. Documents related to the site are also available at the Brainerd Public Library at 416 South Fifth Street in Brainerd.