News Releases from Region 04
Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp – Jacksonville site in Jacksonville, Florida included on EPA Superfund Redevelopment Focus List
Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp – Jacksonville site in Jacksonville, Florida included on EPA Superfund Redevelopment Focus List
Media Contact: Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8421 (Direct), (404) 562-8400 (Main), harris-young.dawn@epa.gov
ATLANTA (January 17, 2018) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its initial list of Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) sites with the greatest expected redevelopment and commercial potential. The Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp – Jacksonville site in Jacksonville, Fla. is one of 31 sites on the list.
“EPA is more than a collaborative partner to remediate the nation’s most contaminated sites, we’re also working to successfully integrate Superfund sites back into communities across the country,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “Today’s redevelopment list incorporates Superfund sites ready to become catalysts for economic growth and revitalization.”
The Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp, a 31-acre site, is situated on the west bank of the St. Johns River in the main industrial port area of Jacksonville, Fla. It includes an area where fertilizer and pesticides were produced from 1893 to 1978. EPA placed the site on the Superfund Program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in 2010 because of contaminated soil and groundwater, resulting from facility operations. EPA, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), Tronox (a successor to Kerr-McGee), the former site’s potentially responsible party (PRP) and the Multistate Trust, have investigated site conditions and taken steps to protect people and the environment from the site contamination. Site contamination does not currently threaten people living and working near the site. The site is currently undeveloped and unoccupied. A six-foot chain-link fence surrounds the site to prevent unauthorized entry.
Vacant, with developable land zoned for industrial waterfront uses, the site is ideal for maritime shipping and storage/transportation of bulk cargo, aggregate materials and/or auto processing.
Superfund redevelopment has helped countless communities reclaim and reuse thousands of acres of formerly contaminated land. Superfund sites on the list have significant redevelopment potential based on previous outside interest, access to transportation corridors, land values, and other critical development drivers.
In July 2017, the Superfund Task Force released its recommendations to streamline and improve the Superfund program including a focus on redevelopment training, tools and resources towards sites on the NPL. EPA will work diligently with developers interested in reusing these and other Superfund sites; will identify potentially interested businesses and industries to keep them apprised of redevelopment opportunities; and will continue to engage with community groups in cleanup and redevelopment activities to ensure the successful redevelopment and revitalization of their communities.
Administrator Pruitt has set the expectation that there will be a renewed focus on accelerating work and progress at all Superfund sites across the country. The Superfund program remains dedicated to addressing risk and accelerating progress at all of its sites, not just those on the list.
This is not a complete list of sites in the Superfund program with redevelopment potential. The list is intended to be dynamic. Sites will move on and off the list as appropriate.
For more information, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund-redevelopment-initiative/superfund-redevelopment-focus-list
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