American Creosote Works (Pensacola Plt)
Encyclopedia
The American Creosote Works Superfund
site is an inactive wood-treating
facility in Pensacola, Florida
located about a quarter-mile north of the confluence of Bayou Chico and Pensacola Bay
. The Superfund program of the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) protects the public and the environment by requiring cleanup of the nation’s worst hazardous waste sites .
was the primary wood preservative chemical, and after 1950 pentachlorophenol
(PCP) became the preferred chemical. Prior to 1970, operators discharged liquid process wastes into two onsite, unlined, percolation ponds which were allowed to overflow into Bayou Chico and Pensacola Bay. Later, workers drew wastewaters off the ponds periodically and discharged them into designated "spillage areas" on site. Additional discharges occurred when heavy rainfall flooded the ponds, which then overflowed their dikes.
Superfund
Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...
site is an inactive wood-treating
Wood preservation
All measures that are taken to ensure a long life of wood fall under the definition wood preservation . Apart from structural wood preservation measures, there are a number of different preservatives and processes that can extend the life of wood, timber, wood structures or engineered wood...
facility in Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
located about a quarter-mile north of the confluence of Bayou Chico and Pensacola Bay
Pensacola Bay
Pensacola Bay is a bay located in the northwestern part of Florida, United States, known as the Florida Panhandle.The bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, is located in Escambia County and Santa Rosa County, adjacent to the city of Pensacola, Florida, and is about 13 miles long and 2.5 miles ...
. The Superfund program of the United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
(EPA) protects the public and the environment by requiring cleanup of the nation’s worst hazardous waste sites .
History
The plant operated from 1902 until 1981, when the company filed for bankruptcy. Before 1950, creosoteCreosote
Creosote is the portion of chemical products obtained by the distillation of a tar that remains heavier than water, notably useful for its anti-septic and preservative properties...
was the primary wood preservative chemical, and after 1950 pentachlorophenol
Pentachlorophenol
Pentachlorophenol is an organochlorine compound used as a pesticide and a disinfectant. First produced in the 1930s, it is marketed under many trade names...
(PCP) became the preferred chemical. Prior to 1970, operators discharged liquid process wastes into two onsite, unlined, percolation ponds which were allowed to overflow into Bayou Chico and Pensacola Bay. Later, workers drew wastewaters off the ponds periodically and discharged them into designated "spillage areas" on site. Additional discharges occurred when heavy rainfall flooded the ponds, which then overflowed their dikes.