NAVASSA — Mid-month another community meeting will be held to welcome residents of Navassa and surrounding areas to learn more about the cleanup of contaminated soil and debris in a years-long Superfund site restoration project.
According to officials, the recent sanitization of Operable Unit 2 of the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp – Navassa Superfund Site was completed in February. The Multistate Environmental Response Trust, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality will convene at a meeting this month to answer questions and give updates. They also will cover next steps of the Operable Unit 4 north cleanup plan, the Operable Unit 3 Feasibility Study, and more.
The sites once were home to a wood-treating plant in Navassa, owned by Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp. The company was decommissioned and razed the facility in 1980, the same year the Superfund program was created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. The act created the Superfund program, collecting taxes from chemical and gasoline companies for the first 15 years and allowed for emergency responses and research support. It also made responsible parties take accountability for contaminating the environment.
The Navassa facility used creosote, a tar-like substance derived from coal and wood, as a pesticide and wood preservative — known for harmful health risks, primarily from inhalation leading to respiratory issues, but also skin and eye irritation and liver damage.
Cleanup of the land has been ongoing since it was added to the national priorities list in 2010. They next year Multistate Trust assumed ownership of 152 of the 246 acres formerly owned by Kerr-McGee, with the trust purchasing two more acres in 2016.
Below are four bullet points regarding what has been done so far and what is planned as part of the cleanup:
- One: As part of the Operable Unit 2 Cleanup, contaminated surface soil and debris were removed in 2024 during the initial remediation phase, but additional, unexpected debris extended beyond the original planned excavation areas. Workers returned in November 2025 to excavate additional soil and debris, completing the work in early February 2026. Learn more about the cleanup in the fact sheet linked here.
- Two: The Operable Unit 4 North Cleanup Plan includes the EPA’s proposed plan for the northern portion — the former pond and process area — removing contaminated surface soil and developing controls to manage contamination risks. Learn more about the proposed cleanup in the fact sheet here.
- Three: The Feasibility Study of Operable Unit 3, located at the southern marsh, will evaluate remediation technologies to mitigate contamination risks to animals and plants while protecting the marsh.
- Four: Launched in fall 2025, the ongoing Opearble Unit 4 Biosparging Pilot Study is evaluating whether injecting oxygen into the aquifer would effectively remediate contamination in subsurface soils and groundwater.
The community meeting is scheduled to take place March 12 at the Navassa Community Center, 338 Main Street, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.; it is a drop-in. Anyone who cannot attend in person can Zoom in here; attendees can also call in via phone by dialing (301) 715-8592 and entering the meeting ID 946 584 8922, with passcode 664564.
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