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EPA Receives Funding for Cleanup at the Escambia Wood Treating Superfund Site in Pensacola, FL

Release Date: 06/01/2007
Contact Information: Laura Niles, (404) 562-8353, [email protected]

(ATLANTA – June 1, 2007) The Escambia Wood Treating Company (ETC) Superfund Site in Pensacola, Fla. has received funding through EPA’s National Risk-Based Priority Panel for construction of the remedy selected to address contaminated soil (Operable Unit 1). The panel establishes funding priorities for all new cleanup construction projects in the Superfund program. The Site has received $2 million in funding for fiscal year 2007, and will receive approximately $15 million during fiscal year 2008 as construction proceeds. This funding is in addition to the more than $35 million committed by EPA to interim actions at the Site. Initial construction activities at the site, including preliminary surveying and sampling activities, are expected to begin in late summer 2007, and construction will take approximately 16 months to complete.

The selected cleanup plan for the ETC site includes excavation of contaminated soil both on the former facility property and on surrounding properties; placement of the contaminated soil in a lined containment cell; solidification/stabilization of identified principal threat contaminants to form a sub-cap; and installation of a multi-layer cap over the containment area that will allow future commercial use of the property. This cleanup plan eliminates both human and ecological exposure to contaminated soil, permanently controls the mobility of the contaminants, and is protective of ground water resources. Ground water contamination will be addressed separately as Operable Unit 2 for which EPA is currently developing cleanup alternatives.

The ETC Site is an abandoned wood preserving facility, located at 3910 North Palafox Street in Pensacola, Escambia County, Fla., that operated from 1942 until 1982. During its operational period, the facility treated utility poles, foundation pilings, and lumber with creosote and pentachlorophenol. In October 1991, EPA excavated approximately 225,000 cubic yards of contaminated material and stockpiled it under secure cover at the site. In 1997, relocation of 358 households around the ETC Site was begun as part of EPA’s National Relocation Pilot Project. The relocation for additional residential properties in the Clarinda Triangle area began in 2006, and all relocation activities will be completed in 2008.