ATLANTA (March 19, 2018) – On Monday, March 19, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will begin soil sampling at residential properties near the 12-acre Fairfax Street Wood Treaters (FSWT) site in Jacksonville, Fla.  Sampling will be conducted at the designated residential properties identified for cleanup in the Record of Decision (ROD).  

 

The sampling will help determine the depth of excavation needed for yards requiring cleanup with results anticipated later this Spring. After the samples are analyzed, EPA will complete the remedial design for the implementation of the site cleanup.

 

EPA evaluated a variety of technologies that may be used to clean up the site which were documented in the site Feasibility Study (FS). After completing the FS, and receiving input from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, EPA issued a proposed long-term remedy on August 22, 2017 to address any additional contamination and mitigate risk to people and the environment. 

 

The FSWT site is located in a predominantly residential area of Jacksonville, Fla. owned by Fairfax Land Management, Inc., and was formerly used as a wood treating facility. From 1980 to 2010, the facility pressure-treated utility poles, pilings, heavy timber, and plywood lumber products using the wood treating preservative chromated copper arsenate (CCA). Based on knowledge of the process and the contaminants at the site, some of the CCA preservative dripped onto the ground, which resulted in soil and sediment contamination. 

 

Under Administrator Pruitt’s leadership, the Superfund program has reemerged as a top priority to advance the Agency’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment.

 

More information on EPA's cleanup work at the Fairfax Street Wood Treaters (FSWT) site (https://www.epa.gov/superfund/fairfax-st-wood-treaters)