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Superfund Program Implements the Recovery Act
Atlantic Wood Industries
Portsmouth, VirginiaSite Description
The approximately 48-acre Atlantic Wood Industries (AWI) site is located in the industrialized waterfront area of Portsmouth, VA. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, the operations center for the Portsmouth Public School District, and several other small industrial properties surround the site, which includes another approximately 30 acres of the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River. From 1926 to 1992, a wood-treating facility operated at the AWI property which used both creosote and pentachlorophenol (PCP). At one time, the Navy leased part of the property and disposed of abrasive blast media from the sand blasting of naval equipment on-site. Sediments in the Elizabeth River contain visible creosote. The ground water and soil at the site are also heavily contaminated with creosote.
Cleanup Activities to Date
EPA listed the site on the National Priorities List in 1990. In 2002, EPA, AWI and the Navy completed a removal action to clean up contaminated sludge affecting on-site wetlands and to put a cap on an abrasive blast media disposal area. In late 2007, EPA selected a site cleanup approach, which includes river dredging, on-site consolidation of sediments, stabilization of creosote-soaked soils, and installation of a sheet pile wall off-shore in the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River. This wall will prevent creosote migration to the river. EPA has focused its outreach activities on industrial workers, Elizabeth River environmental groups and some subsistence fishers who can be exposed to contaminants by consuming fish and crabs.
Recovery Act Project Activity
EPA will use the up to $5 million in Recovery Act funds allocated to this site to start the 2007 cleanup approximately one year earlier than expected. EPA anticipates that initial cleanup activities will include stabilization of creosote-soaked soils, construction of an earthen berm to contain some of the contaminated sediments that will be dredged in a future phase, shoreline stabilization work, soil excavation and consolidation, and wetland mitigation work. Not only will the cleanup itself create job opportunities, but it also will create significant redevelopment opportunities once completed.
To find out more about:
- This Superfund site, go to: http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/super/sites/VAD990710410/index.htm;
- The Recovery Act and:
- Superfund, go to: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/eparecovery/index.html;
- EPA, go to: http://www.epa.gov/recovery; and
- The United States, go to: http://www.recovery.gov.