AMERICAN CREOSOTE PLANT
What is creosote?
Creosote-treated wood has either a thick black mixture of coal tar chemicals on the wood or the clear to yellowish greasy resin of the creosote bush. Many railroad ties are treated with creosote or pentachlorophenol. Creosote-treated wood can leach chemicals that may dissolve in water, move through soil and contaminate groundwater. Creosote can also be taken up by plants and animals and is considered a probable human carcinogen. Creosote-treated wood may only be used in commercial applications; there are no residential uses for creosote-treated wood.
The 60-acre American Creosote Works, Inc. (Jackson Plant) Superfund Site is located southwest of Jackson, Tennessee and includes numerous lagoons and other low-lying areas. The site is bordered by the Seaboard Railroad to the south, the Forked Deer River to the southwest, Central Creek to the north and west, and Industrial facilities to the east. The site’s broader surroundings include industrial, commercial and residential areas.
The site includes an area where a wood-treating facility operated from the early 1930s to late 1981. Several public and private wells are located within a three-mile radius of the site, including a city well field less than two miles east of the site.
From the early 1930s to 1981, a wood-treating facility operated at the site. Operations included discharging untreated process wastewater directly into the south fork of the Forked Deer River until 1973, when the operation built a levee around the facility to contain wastewater and surface water runoff. During construction, operations stored process water and sludge in pits on site that often overflowed into the main process area and the river during heavy rains and flooding. In 1974, the facility installed a wastewater treatment system
The 60-acre site is located immediately southwest of downtown Jackson, Tennessee. The site includes numerous lagoons and other low-lying areas. The Seaboard Railroad borders the site to the south, the Forked Deer River borders the site to the southwest, Central Creek borders the site to the north and west and industrial land use borders the site to the east. The site’s broader surroundings include industrial, commercial and residential land uses. Several public and private wells are located within a three-mile radius of the site, including a city well field less than two miles east of the site. From the early 1930s until 1981, a wood treating facility operated at the site. Operations included discharging untreated process wastewater directly into the south fork of the Forked Deer River until 1973, when the operation built a levee around the facility to contain wastewater and surface water runoff. During construction, operations stored process water and sludge in pits on site that often overflowed into the main process area and the river during heavy rains and flooding. In 1974, the facility installed a wastewater treatment system. In 1986, EPA listed the site on the NPL. The site can support industrial land uses. In 2004, Jackson Energy Authority acquired the site property and currently uses it for equipment storage. Fencing surrounds the site to control access.
Dement began placing fill material on site again in 2015. The EPA is currently working with the property owner Meadow Street Properties, LLC operated by Dement Construction Company, LLC to determine the analytical characterization of the fill material Dement placed to determine the next steps to ensure protection of human health and the environment
HistoryandstoriesoftheHatchieRiver 