Madisonville Creosote Works

Overview

A wood-treating facility operated on this 29-acre site in Madisonville, Louisiana from the mid-1950s until closure. It contaminated soil and groundwater with creosote and other hazardous chemicals through its operations and the use of unlined waste ponds and ditches. The site was added to the National Priorities List on December 23, 1996, which formally placed it under the EPA's Superfund cleanup program.

The three contaminants of concern are benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, and dibenzo(a,h)anthracene, all found in soil across the entire site. The main cleanup risks involve people ingesting or touching contaminated soil and groundwater. Human exposure is currently under control, and contaminated groundwater has been stabilized in the original area of contamination with no unacceptable discharge to surface water.

Cleanup began with a 1996 removal action that demolished 11 buildings, removed storage tanks and treatment cylinders, and installed fencing. A dense non-aqueous phase liquid recovery trench system has been running since 2000 to extract and treat contaminated groundwater. As of March 2024, it had recovered about 23,484 gallons of creosote and extracted more than 2.19 million gallons of groundwater. Physical construction of the cleanup is complete, and the site is in operation and maintenance status with monthly sampling and monitoring. A Conveyance Notice filed in 2004 restricts groundwater extraction and residential uses. The site is closed and approved only for industrial or commercial reuse.

EPA completed its most recent five-year review on May 28, 2024. That review found the remedy is protective of human health and the environment in the short term. Long-term protection requires updating or adding institutional controls to meet the requirements of the original cleanup decision. The site has not yet been deleted from the National Priorities List.

Community members can review the 2024 Five-Year Review Report online at https://semspub.epa.gov/work/06/100030747.pdf or in person at the Madisonville Branch of the St. Tammany Parish Library at 1123 Main Street in Madisonville. Copies are also available at the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality at 602 North Fifth Street in Baton Rouge. Media inquiries can go to the EPA Press Office at (214) 665-2200. For direct questions, the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator and Remedial Project Manager, as well as a state contact at the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, are available to help.