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Taylor Lumber & Treating Site Proposed for Superfund List
Release Date: 12/1/2000
Contact Information: Mike Slater
[email protected]
503-326-5872
December 1, 2000 - - - - - - - - - 00-066
Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed the Taylor Lumber & Treating site in Sheridan, Oregon, for inclusion on EPA’s National Priorities List (NPL), also known as the Superfund List.
EPA has found wood-treating chemicals such as creosote, pentachorophenol (PCP), and arsenic in surface soil, subsurface soil, groundwater and in the nearby South Yamhill River, which could contaminate drinking water supplied to the residents of Sheridan. The South Yamhill is also a popular recreational fishing stream and is home to threatened steelhead and coho salmon runs.
Dioxins and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were also found at the site, in the sediments in Rock Creek and the South Yamhill River, and in nearby residential yards. Long-term exposure to arsenic, creosote, dioxin, and some PAHs can cause cancer. Long-term exposure to low levels of PCP can cause damage to the liver, blood, and the central nervous system.
EPA’s emergency removal program moved 4,200 tons of contaminated soil to an on-site holding cell, built an underground barrier wall around the wood treating plant, and placed asphalt around the storage yard to prevent the worst contamination from continuing to spread while a long-term solution is worked out.
Although this work addresses immediate threats to human health and the environment, Superfund listing can fund a more comprehensive study and cleanup, including long-term actions not authorized under EPA’s emergency removal program. EPA will also require Taylor Lumber to clean up the site and reimburse the Superfund for cleanup costs.
Proposal Now Open to Public Comment
The Taylor Lumber & Treating site proposal was published in the Federal Register on December 1, 2000. EPA now invites the public to comment on the proposal during a sixty-day comment period. After the comment period closes, EPA will consider all comments received before listing the site as final on the NPL. Comments must be postmarked by January 30 , 2001. Send an original and three copies of your comments in one of the ways below.
By USPS:
Docket Coordinator, Headquarters
U.S. EPA CERCLA Docket Office, 5201G
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460
or
By express mail or courier:
Docket Coordinator, Headquarters
U.S. EPA CERCLA Docket Office
1235 Jefferson Davis Highway
Crystal Gateway #1, 1st floor
Arlington, Virginia 22202
Docket Coordinator, Headquarters
U.S. EPA CERCLA Docket Office, 5201G
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460
or
By express mail or courier:
Docket Coordinator, Headquarters
U.S. EPA CERCLA Docket Office
1235 Jefferson Davis Highway
Crystal Gateway #1, 1st floor
Arlington, Virginia 22202
Comments may also be e-mailed, in ASCII format only, to [email protected].
E-mailed comments must be followed by an original and three copies by mail or express mail.
E-mailed comments must be followed by an original and three copies by mail or express mail.
For more information on the proposal:
http:/www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/npl.htm
http:/www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/npl.htm
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