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Escambia Wood - Pensacola
National Information
An abandoned chemical drum in a pit on the Escambia Wood Treating Company Pensacola property.
- Additional Site Photos
- Site Video
Additional Resources
- Site Cleanup Terms - can be found in EPA's glossary
- EPA Guides to Cleanup Technologies
- Superfund Community Involvement (PDF) (17 pp, 130K, About PDF)
Site Summary Profile
EPA ID: FLD008168346Location: Pensacola, Escambia County, FL
Lat/Long: 30.455300, -87.231700
Congressional District: 01
NPL Status: Proposed: 08/23/1994; Final: 12/16/1994
Affected Media: Soil
Cleanup Status: Early Action Initiated/Completed, Construction Underway. Physical cleanup is almost complete and construction of soil contamination remedy is scheduled for completion in 2009
Site Reuse/Redevelopment: Anticipated commercial or light industrial use
Site Manager: Erik Spalvins (spalvins.erik@epa.gov)
Site Background
The 26-acre Escambia Wood Treating Company site in Pensacola, Florida is an abandoned wood preserving facility. From 1942 until its closing in 1982, Escambia manufactured wood products treated with creosote and pentachlorophenol (PCP). Contamination from Escambia activities has impacted 96 acres of land and a ground water plume that extends approximately 1.3 miles from the site.
The Escambia Wood Treating Company filed for bankruptcy and abandoned the site in 1991, prior to the first removal action.Threats and contaminants
Creosote, pentachlorophenol (PCP), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and dioxin are the main contaminants found on the site. Properties adjacent to the site include residential lands where PAH and dioxin contamination attributable to the site has been identified. Primary contaminants in the ground water are PCP and naphthalene.
Site Cleanup Plan
The cleanup plan for the Escambia site covered two operable units (OUs): OU-1 (soil) and OU-2 (ground water).
An interim cleanup plan was selected for OU-1 in 1997. Major components of the interim plan included:
- Permanent relocation of an estimated 358 households from the Rosewood Terrace subdivision, the Oak Park subdivision, the Escambia Arms Apartments, and the Goulding subdivision.
- Demolition of the homes and institutional controls to restrict the land use of the area to industrial or commercial use.
The Record of Decision for OU-1 was issued in 2006. Major components of the cleanup approach included:
- Excavation of contaminated soil both on- and off-site, including permanent relocation of residents in the Clarinda triangle neighborhood.
- Containment of the contaminated soil in lined cell(s) followed by installation of a multi-layer cap over the containment area compatible, to the extent possible, with the intended future commercial use of the property.
- Solidification/stabilization of identified principal threat waste to form a sub-cap (3-4-ft in thickness) beneath the multi-layer cap.
- Operation and maintenance of the cap and containment system.
- Long-term monitoring of the containment system.
- Institutional controls to restrict future use of the site to commercial uses compatible with the remedy.
- Five-year reviews of the remedy to ensure protectiveness is maintained.
The Record of Decision for OU-2 was issued in 2008. Major components of the cleanup approach included:
- Installation of vertical and horizontal injection and extraction wells.
- Treatment of contamination in source plume areas on-site using chemical and bacterial methods designed to degrade contaminants in soil and ground water.
- Treatment of contamination in high concentration plume areas with bacterial methods designed to degrade contaminants in soil and ground water.
- Monitored natural attenuation in dilute plume areas.
- Operation and maintenance.
- Institutional controls.
Clean-up Progress
The Escambia site is currently being cleaned up – permanent relocation of impacted households is nearing completion, soil source material containment is underway, and ground water treatment is in planning stages.
From 1991 to 1992, EPA excavated 225,000 cubic yards of contaminated material and stored it under a secure cover on-site.
The interim remedy began in 1997 and consisted of relocation of 358 households. The government acquired 158 single family homes, a 200-unit apartment complex, and 11 vacant residential lots, successfully relocating over 500 persons to comparable replacement housing. Demolition of the properties and disposal of associated waste materials were completed in 2005.
Construction of the remedy for OU-1 (soil) began in September 2007, and is expected to be completed in late 2009. The selected remedy calls for solidification/stabilization treatment of principal threat source material and containment of contaminated material under a cap. The remedy will address more than 500,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil on the site.
In 2006, an additional 46 households were identified as being directly impacted by contamination. Permanent relocation of these households began in December 2006 and was completed in 2009.
Technical planning for implementing the selected remedy for OU-2 (ground water) is currently underway.
Enforcement Activities
Site cleanup activities are being led primarily by EPA.
Community Involvement
EPA has conducted a range of community involvement activities at the site to solicit community input and to ensure that the public remains informed about site activities throughout the site cleanup process. Outreach activities have included site fact sheets (found below), public notices, and information meetings on cleanup progress and activities.
In 1999, EPA entered into a cooperative agreement with the Escambia County Community Redevelopment Agency to learn about what future land uses the community anticipated having from the site. The conceptual redevelopment plan designed by the County was considered in the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study for OU-1, and cleanup design for OU-1 was completed in collaboration with the community.
Fact Sheets:
- Potential for Reuse Fact Sheet (PDF) (1 pg, 472K, About PDF)
- Relocation Update Fact Sheet, August 2000 (PDF) (1 pg, 86K, About PDF)
- Relocation Update Fact Sheet, September 2001(PDF) (2 pp, 8K, About PDF)
- Updated Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (PDF) (4 pp, 257K, About PDF)
- Explanation of Significant Difference to ROD, Fact Sheet, June 2004 (PDF) (2 pp, 22K, About PDF)
Future Work
Implementation of the OU-1 (soil) cleanup approach is on-going.
Once remedy design is complete, construction will commence for the OU-2 (ground water) remedy.
Site Administrative Documents
Site Repository
For more information or to view any site-related documents, please visit the site information repository at the following location. As new documents are generated, they will be placed in the information repository for public information.
West Florida Regional Library
200 West Gregory St.
Pensacola, FL 32501
Administrative Record Index
- OU-1, June 2002 (PDF) (19 pp, 938K, About PDF)
- OU-1, March 2006 (PDF) (19 pp, 1.18MB, About PDF)
- Removal (PDF) (4 pp, 168K, About PDF)
Fact Sheets
- Potential for Reuse Fact Sheet (PDF) (1 pg, 472K, About PDF)
- Relocation Update Fact Sheet, August 2000 (PDF) (1 pg, 86K, About PDF)
- Relocation Update Fact Sheet, September 2001(PDF) (2 pp, 8K, About PDF)
- Updated Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (PDF) (4 pp, 257K, About PDF)
- Explanation of Significant Difference to ROD, Fact Sheet, June 2004 (PDF) (2 pp, 22K, About PDF)
For documents not available on the website, please contact the Region 4 Freedom of Information Office.