Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
MILWAUKEE COUNTY
MILWAUKEE

Congressional District # 04

MOSS-AMERICAN CO., INC. (KERR-MCGEE OIL CO.)

EPA ID# WID039052626
Last Updated: December, 2007

Site Description

In 1921, the T. J. Moss Tie Company established a wood-preserving facility west of the Little Menomonee River. The plant preserved railroad ties, poles, and fence posts with creosote, a mixture of numerous chemical compounds, derived from coal tar. While No. 6 fuel oil was also used, no evidence of pentachlorophenol (PCP) usage was noted at the Moss-American site. Operations at a creosote plant might involve storage facilities for both creosote and fuels; a boiler used to make steam to heat the creosote and aid in application to the wood through usage of heat and pressure; incoming timbers, unloading, storage, and transportation of timbers to the creosote application facility; and subsequent storage in a drying area. After these processes were completed, the treated timbers could be shipped to customers. Potential for release of contamination exists throughout the storage, application, and drying processes. For a time, the facility discharged wastes to settling ponds that discharged it to the Little Menomonee River. These discharges ceased when the plant diverted its process water discharge to the Milwaukee sanitary sewerage system. Production at the facility ceased in 1976. 

Site Responsibility

Under the terms of a Consent Decree, Tronox LLC (formerly Kerr-McGee LLC) agreed to perform remedial design, construction, and operation and maintenance necessary to attain cleanup decision goals.  U.S. EPA and Wisconsin DNR provide oversight of work performed by Tronox.  Tronox is a Potentially Responsible Party (PRP), a party whom the EPA has determined may be legally responsible for the site's contamination.

Threats and Contaminants

Groundwater samples showed elevated levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Free-standing creosote or an oil sheen was observed in three monitoring well samples; similar observations were noted in eight test pits. The primary contaminants detected in the River sediments are PAHs. Contaminants that were found in the soil in the processing area and vicinity, the treated wood storage area, and the northeast and southeast landfills include components of creosote: PAHs, benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, and xylenes (BTEX) compounds. PAHs were detected in a ditch that drains water from the site to the River. The Little Menomonee River has been affected by contaminated surface water runoff and sediments from the site. Potential health risks exist for individuals inhaling volatilized chemicals or ingesting or coming into direct contact with the contaminated sediments, soil, groundwater, or surface water. 

Cleanup Progress

In 1987, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) conducted a remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS). A RI is a study to determine the nature and extent of contamination at the site.  An FS is an analysis of cleanup alternatives for the site. 

After documenting the selecting cleanup action in the 1990 record of decision (ROD), U.S. EPA again entered into discussions with the PRPs to implement the selected cleanup action. On December 30, 1991, U.S. EPA lodged a consent decree (CD) with the Federal District Court in Milwaukee. This agreement calls for implementation of the remedy as set forth in the ROD by the former owner/operator. The CD was entered by the court in March 1996. Parties bound by the decree include U.S. EPA, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), and the former owner/operator, Tronox.

Based on predesign results, U.S. EPA requested that priority be given to removing the free product in the groundwater and directed the PRP to design the groundwater collection/treatment portions of the cleanup project. From 1995 to 1997, approximately 10,000 gallons of free product creosote and related wastewater were collected and removed from the site. In April 1997, U.S. EPA and WDNR determined that it would be appropriate to use an innovative in-situ funnel and gate process as a means of managing site groundwater. The in-situ approach utilized injection of air and nutrients into the groundwater to promote biological degradation of groundwater contaminants. Construction of the funnel and gate system had began in 1999 and was completed in July 2000.

In 1998, U.S. EPA, with the concurrence of WDNR, modified the 1990 ROD to allow treatment of the most highly contaminated soils via thermal desorption technique to industrial/commercial soil cleanup standards, providing the affected property owner adopted appropriate property deed restrictions.  Property deed restrictions were filed in 2000, and the former owner/operator completed thermal desorption remedial design in 2000. The soil treatment work was completed in early 2002. A total of 137,000 tons of site soil underwent thermal desorption treatment.

In early 2002, remedial design plans for management of contaminated sediments in the nearby Little Menomonee River (LMR) were submitted. Five reaches of the LMR were affected, and remedial work was conducted in phases. River Reach 1 included from Brown Deer Road to Bradley Road. For most of this length, a new River channel was created slightly east or west of the existing stream channel, diverting River flow into the new channel.  Most contaminated sediment from the dewatered former channel was removed. The former channel was filled in with soils excavated in creating the new channel. After design approval in August 2002, U.S. EPA conducted a public availability session in September 2002. River Reach 1 sediment management is completed.

In 2003, similar design plans were completed for River Reaches 2 and 3, which extend from Bradley Road to Good Hope Road then to Mill Road.  Cleanup actions in these Reaches of the River were completed December 30, 2004.  Included in this phase of River remediation was development of aquatic habitat.

On September 20, 2005, the EPA completed a Five Year Review Report for the site. The review found that the remedy is functioning as intended and is expected to be protective of human health and the environment upon completion.  The two following issues were identified in the review:  (1) a need for more efficient operation of the funnel and gate groundwater system, (2) proper evaluation and execution of all necessary site institutional controls.

As of November 2007, sediment management on the 5-mile stretch of Little Menomenee River is almost complete, with the last 4,300 feet of Reach 4/5 being the final segment needing cleanup. 

U.S. EPA and Wisconsin DNR are considering a proposal from Tronox to enhance groundwater treatment capability through planting trees over a zone of the aquifer where the hydraulic gradient results in particularly slow groundwater movement.

 

Contacts

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
Ross Del Rosario (delrosario.rosauro@epa.gov)
(312) 886-6195

Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA
susan pastor
(312) 353-1325

Aliases

MOSS-AMERICAN(KERR-MCGEE OIL CO.)
KERR MCGEE CHEM CORP FOREST PROD DIV
MOSS-AMERICAN KERR-MCGEE OIL CO

 

Site Profile Information

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