madisonville creosote works

STATE HGWY 22, 2.5 MILES W OF CITY

The Madisonville Creosote Works (MCW) is located at 1421 West Highway 22, Madisonville, Louisiana. The Site is about 3 miles west of downtown Madisonville and consists of a defunct creosote wood treating facility and covers about 29 acres. Prior to the establishment of wood-treating operations the site was primarily forested land, with a farmstead encompassing about 5.5 acres along the western property boundary. Wood-preserving operations at the site began in 1956 or 1957 under the name Madisonville Creosote Works, Inc. (MCWI). During wood-treating operations, poles, ties, and lumber were treated by impregnating the wood with creosote in retort cylinders under elevated temperature and pressure. The waste streams generated during these operations included process water, cooling water, boiler water, and waste creosote. The contaminants of concern were creosote polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). PAHs are considered highly toxic. The area surrounding the property is predominantly rural and wooded but large tracts within 1 mile of the site are zoned for suburban use. Subdivisions are under construction on these tracts, and other subdivisions are being planned. During site visits, three residences were noted adjacent on the west side of the site, a small subdivision was noted adjacent on the southeast side of the site, and one residence was noted adjacent to the site to the northeast. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) Inactive and Abandoned Sites Division (IASD) is aware of the presence of two protected or endangered species of animals in the Madisonville area. There is also an old (over 100 years) live oak tree on the site. A Time-Critical Removal Action (TCRA) was conducted in 1996 and involved demolition, consolidation, and/or disposal of the following: 11 site buildings and their contents (including drums of oil waste); the process area (including 15 storage tanks and their contents, three treatment cylinders, asbestos insulation, mercury-contaminated debris, and the concrete pad); piles of treated wood; and steel railroad tracks leading from treatment cylinders to wood storage areas. In addition, a 6-foot-high chain-link fence with barbed wire fencing was installed along the SH 22 side of the highway. The EPA signed the Record of Decision (ROD) for the MCW site on August 25, 1998. The remedy selected in the ROD addressed contamination in the soil, sediment, surface water, and groundwater at the site by: • Low Temperature Thermal Desorption (LTTD) to address the principal threat wastes within the soil and sediment (thus eliminating the source of contamination for surface water); • Dense NonAqueous Phase Liquids (DNAPL) Recovery Trench System to contain and recover low level threat wastes within the groundwater; • Institutional controls to ensure that future individuals will not be exposed to remaining low level site contaminants during its containment and recovery; and, • Ground water monitoring to ensure the effectiveness of the cleanup remedy.

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