The EVR-Wood Treating/Evangeline Refining Company site sits near Jennings, Louisiana, where two industrial operations ran for decades. A wood treatment plant used creosote and chromium copper arsenate preservatives from the late 1940s until around 1980. An oil refinery operated from 1938 to 1981, producing naphtha, kerosene, diesel, and fuel oil. Both operations left behind contaminated soil and wetland sediment. The site was added to the National Priorities List, EPA's roster of priority cleanup sites, in September 2012.
Contaminants in soil and sediment include metals such as arsenic, lead, mercury, copper, hexavalent chromium, and vanadium. Organic compounds include benzene, ethylbenzene, xylene, naphthalene, and several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as benzo(a)pyrene. Other contaminants include dioxins, pentachlorophenol, and dibenzofuran. EPA has determined these substances pose an unacceptable risk to future commercial workers, construction workers, and adolescent recreational users. Human exposure is not currently under control. Groundwater migration, however, is under control, with no unacceptable discharge to surface water confirmed.
EPA collected roughly 1,050 samples between 2015 and 2016, including soil, sediment, surface water, groundwater, and private well samples. The agency completed a Remedial Investigation Report in September 2017 and a Feasibility Study in July 2020. EPA held a public meeting on May 27, 2021, and finalized a Record of Decision on August 25, 2021. The selected remedy costs approximately $6.5 million and includes capping contaminated swamp and non-wetland soils, excavation, offsite disposal, wetlands replacement, groundwater monitoring, and institutional controls. Those controls will limit future land use to commercial, industrial, and recreational purposes. EPA also performed removal actions at the site between August and October 2018 and from December 2018 through March 2019. Additional sampling in April and October 2023 supported ongoing remedial design work.
Remedial design is currently underway and is scheduled to finish by August 28, 2025. Final remedial construction is estimated to begin between March and May 2027. Physical construction is not yet complete, and the site has not reached its cleanup goals across all areas.
Community members with questions can contact the Community Involvement Coordinator or the Remedial Project Managers. For state-related questions, contact the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.
