ABSTRACT

The American Creosote DeRidder site is a Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) Voluntary Remedial Program (VRP) site located on Post Plant Road several miles south of DeRidder, Louisiana. The site was a creosote wood treatment operation for the first half of the 20th century. The 50-acre site is now overgrown and unused, with the nearest residence more than 1/4 mile distant. The remnants of the creosote operation include an unlined wastewater pit, and a pathway of creosote solids and soils contamination leading from the pit downgradient approximately 500 feet to a surface water body. The goal of the VRP site investigation is to determine the extent of soils and groundwater contamination, and potential health risks. A plan for environmental response will then be designed to protect human health and the environment.

The two property owners have chosen not to work together to address their respective environmental issues at this site. LDEQ has allowed each owner to develop a separate VRP for its portion of the site. The two owners are dramatically different; one is a large national railroad and the other is an in-state highway overlay operation, each with their own legal constraints.

This case study will discuss the business needs and qualifications of each of these owners regarding the environmental issues. It will examine and document what occurs during the VRP site investigation, with an emphasis on the collection, use, and sharing of environmental data to focus on the potential of groundwater contamination.

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