The Midland Products site covers 38 acres near Ola, Arkansas in Yell County. It operated as a wood-preserving treatment plant from 1969 to 1979, using creosote and pentachlorophenol (PCP) to treat lumber. Contaminated wastewater went into on-site lagoons that sometimes overflowed into nearby streams. The site was added to the EPA's National Priorities List (NPL) in 1986, which flags it as a priority for federally managed cleanup.
The two main contaminants are pentachlorophenol and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Both have been found in soil, groundwater, sediment, surface water, and sludge. The EPA identified these as posing unacceptable risks to human health and the environment based on the amounts present and the potential health effects from contact with them. The original risks came from people ingesting or touching contaminated groundwater and lagoon materials.
Cleanup began in 1990. Workers used thermal incineration to destroy contaminated soils and sludge on-site. Groundwater was pumped out and treated in multiple phases, running from 1994 to 1999 and again from 2000 to 2006. The original 1988 cleanup plan was amended in 2006 to add a Technical Impracticability Waiver for the most heavily contaminated groundwater zone, monitored natural attenuation for the broader dissolved contaminant plume, and institutional controls to keep people from using site groundwater. Construction of the full remedy finished in 1993, and final remedial action in the groundwater and soil unit wrapped up in 2007.
The EPA's Five Year Review, completed September 21, 2021, found the remedy is currently short-term protective of human health and the environment. Human exposure is under control, and contaminated groundwater is stable with no unacceptable discharge to surface water expected. The site was designated ready for anticipated reuse in 2008. The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment samples groundwater twice a year. The next five-year review is estimated between September and November 2026. The site has not yet been deleted from the NPL.
Community members with questions can reach the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or the Remedial Project Manager. For state-level questions, contact the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. Site records are available for public review at the Yell County Library at 904 Atlanta Street in Danville, Arkansas.
