United States Environmental Protection Agency
Region IV
POLLUTION REPORT

Subject: 

Southern Pine Wood Preserving is a 5.5 acre site located at 1418 College Avenue, Wiggins, Mississippi.  It is located in a residential area and the property is zoned residential.  The residents in this area use city water as their source of drinking water.

The facility was a wood preserving company that used creosote and pentachlorophenol.  The facility is no longer operating and its equipment is no longer at the site.  The facility started operating in the 1950's and ended in the mid 1980's.

The site appears to have a buried, unlined surface impoundment.  It was considered clean-closed in the appellate court in 1992.

On February 2, 2009, EPA and Superfund Technical Assessment Response Team (START) arrived on site to conduct a Removal Site Evaluation (RSE).  A geoprobe was used to sample soils for constituents related with a creasote facility.  Eleven samples were collected from 0'-4', 4'-8' and 8'-16' intervals and sent to a laboratory for analysis.  

Additional sampling at the property and at adjacent properties will need to be conducted to completely characterize the site and determine if migration of contaminants may have occurred.

Removal Action Levels (RALs) were exceeded for benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluroanthene, dibenzo(a,h)anthracene, indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, and napthalene.  More results are pending.

The RALs were determined by converting the Regional Screening Levels (RSL) to risk-based concentrations appropriate for time-critical removal actions.  The derived RALs are based upon a residential human health risk of 1x10-4 for carcinogens and a Hazard Index of 3 for non-carcinogens.

Site conditions meet the requirements for initiating a Time-Critical removal action according to criteria listed in Section 300.415 (b)(2) of the NCP:

•    Section 300.415 (b)(2)(i): “Actual or potential exposure to nearby human populations, animals, or the food chain from hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants.”  The site is located in a residential area with multiple residences in close proximity to the site.   There is no fence or security to keep out children, trespasser, and animals from the Site.  Direct contact, ingestion, and inhalation of these hazardous substances are primary pathways of exposure.  

•    Section 300.415 (b)(2)(iv): “High levels of hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants in soils largely at or near the surface, that may migrate.”  Sample analysis shows that soils exceed the RALs and pose a threat for both, surface and air migration, through runoff or dust respectively.

•    Section 300.415(b)(2)(v): “Weather conditions that may cause hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants to migrate or be released.”  The source of contamination appears to be at or near the surface.  Existing sample results show that it is likely that contaminants have migrated to adjacent properties.

•    Section 300.415(b)(2)(vii) "Availability of other appropriate federal or state response mechanisms to respond to a release." State funds are insufficient.  No other governmental entity has funds available to conduct the necessary removal activity.

Due to the threat and/or future threat to human health from the hazardous substance, the Site achieves removal eligibility base on the removal criteria listed above.