Citizens will have an opportunity Thursday to come talk with groups cleaning up contaminants from a north Springfield industrial site.
The Multistate Environmental Response Trust as well as the Missouri departments of Health and Senior Services and Natural Resources are hosting a community drop-in session about the former Tronox/Kerr-McGee Wood Treatment Facility. The event will run from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Oct. 3 at the Library Station, 2535 N. Kansas Expressway.
According to a news release, representatives will discuss recent and planned environmental actions during the session. The last community meeting and drop-in session was in March.
What is the Kerr-McGee Wood Treatment Facility?
The Kerr-McGee Wood Treatment Facility, 2800 W. High St., treated railroad ties with creosote and other preservatives from 1907 until 2004. The facility resided on about 68 acres.
Creosote is a term that encompasses a variety of products such as wood creosote and coal tar products. While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that creosote only poses risks to those who apply it, the substance may also cause problems when it seeps into soil or groundwater. The EPA says that creosote probably causes cancer in humans, according to a toxicological profile on creosote from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.