American Creosote DeRidder

Overview

This 55-acre property in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, operated as a creosote timber treatment facility from the early 1920s through roughly 1957. It sat dormant for decades before Central Manufacturing Company purchased it in September 1992. The EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) on January 18, 2018, after an initial assessment completed in August 2016 flagged serious contamination concerns.

The main contaminants are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs), and metals tied to past wood preserving operations. These pollutants come from waste disposal in on-site concrete vats and pits, a drip area, a creosote processing basin, a waste pit, and a washout area. Soil, sediment, surface water, and groundwater are all affected media. The EPA notes that unsafe contamination levels have been detected, that a reasonable expectation exists that people could be exposed, and that human exposure is not currently under control. Groundwater migration status is uncertain because there is not yet enough data on how contaminated groundwater is moving.

The EPA organized the site into two operable units: a sitewide unit and a source area unit. A removal action at the sitewide unit ran from March 2020 through November 2021, focusing on pulling out source materials to stop further contaminant migration and reduce threats to public health and the environment. The final load of waste shipped out on October 10, 2021, and site demobilization finished on November 8, 2021. A combined remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS) for the source area began in September 2018 and is still ongoing. A Human Health Risk Assessment was completed in April 2021 and updated in June 2023, and an Ecological Risk Assessment was completed and updated in September 2023. A revised Remedial Investigation report is currently in progress based on findings from the initial April 2021 report and additional 2022 sampling. No remedy has been selected yet, and physical construction of a long-term cleanup has not begun.

Community members with questions can contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or the Remedial Project Managers. For state-related questions, contact the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ).