EPA announces public meeting for the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp-Navassa Superfund site proposed cleanup plan

NAVASSA, North Carolina (Sept. 11, 2025) - On Tuesday, September 23, 2025, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a public meeting at the Navassa Community Center in Navassa, North Carolinato present the proposed cleanup plan for the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp-Navassa Superfund site. A 30-day public comment period for the proposed plan will open on Friday, September 12.

The plan proposes to clean up 12 acres of contamination at operable unit 4 North, allowing for non-residential or residential reuse of the property while protecting human health and the environment.

The proposed remedy involves excavating contaminated surface soil and putting restrictions in place to manage the remaining subsurface soil that poses an unacceptable risk for construction workers. The remedy includes both off-site and capped on-side disposal of the contaminated surface soil, backfilling the areas with clean soil and restoring the site.

The proposed plan and other site documents are available here.

WHEN:

Tuesday, September 23, 2025

6 - 8 p.m. ET

WHERE:

Navassa Community Center

338 Main St.

Navassa, NC 28451

To register to attend the meeting via Zoom, go hereExit EPA's website.

Public Comment Period:

The 30-day public comment period is open from September 12 to October 14, 2025. Comments may be sent via email to [email protected]or by mail to:

Erik Spalvins

U.S. EPA Region 4, Superfund Division, 11^thfloor

61 Forsyth St. SW

Atlanta, GA 30303.

Background: 

The 100-acre Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp-Navassa Superfund siteExit EPA's websiteincludes 70 acres of a former wood treatment plant and 30 acres of marshland.

Gulf States Creosoting Company built the plant in 1936. American Creosoting purchased the plant in 1958 and sold it to Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation in 1965. Kerr-McGee stopped operations at the site in 1974 and decommissioned and dismantled the plant in 1980.

In 2006, Kerr-McGee created Tronox, LLC as a spinoff corporation, and Tronox assumed responsibility for the site. Tronox filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009. Two years later, the Tronox bankruptcy settlement established the Multistate Environmental Response Trust to own and assume responsibility for cleanup of hundreds of Tronox-owned sites. Greenfield Environmental Multistate Trust LLC serves as trustee of the Multistate Environmental Response Trust (Multistate Trust). The Multistate Trust operates pursuant to the 2010 Tronox Bankruptcy Consent Decree and Environmental Settlement Agreement and pursuant to the 2011 Environmental Response Trust Agreement.