Frequently Asked Questions

  • The ±68-acre former Tronox/Kerr-McGee Wood Treatment Facility (the Facility) is located at 2800 W. High Street in Springfield, Missouri. For almost 100 years, the Facility was used for wood treatment operations by Kerr-McGee and its predecessors. Operations released creosote-related contaminants into the soil and groundwater zones at and around the Facility. Wood treating operations were discontinued in 2003, the Facility was decommissioned in 2004, and Kerr-McGee transferred the Facility to Tronox LLC (a spin-off company) in 2005.

    All that remains on the property is a building with an office, groundwater recovery and treatment system, a storage area, and a security fence.

  • The Multistate Environmental Response Trust (Multistate Trust) owns the Facility.

    The Multistate Trust is a private, independent, environmental response trust created as part of the 2011 Tronox bankruptcy settlement. Appointed by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, the Multistate Trust is responsible for owning, investigating, cleaning up, and facilitating reuse(s) of hundreds of former Tronox/Kerr-McGee sites, including this Facility in Springfield.

  • The Facility is regulated by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MoDNR) under a Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Facility (MHWMF) Part I Permit for post-closure care and corrective actions. Permit number: MOD007129406.

    Post-closure care (PCC) refers to the long-term maintenance of the closed hazardous surface waste impoundments (lagoons) and land farm at the Facility. This includes inspecting and maintaining the soil covers over the closed units.

    Corrective actions include groundwater monitoring and operating the groundwater treatment system to recover creosote and treat and hydraulically control groundwater.

  • Due to the Facility’s proximity to residential neighborhoods, the Multistate Trust has been prioritizing further evaluating off-Facility contaminant migration that may potentially affect the community.

    The Multistate Trust has conducted outdoor air and vapor intrusion studies to evaluate air quality in surrounding neighborhoods and determine if vapor intrusion into nearby homes was occurring and presenting health risks due to releases originating at the Facility. The Multistate Trust also implemented a Remedial Action Optimization Work Plan to better understand the hydrogeology around the Facility.

    In 2022, the Multistate Trust worked to implement the Off-Facility Investigation Work Plan, which included surface water sampling at Woodlawn Spring, Golden Hills Detention Basin, and the West Fork of Spring Branch, and installing two new groundwater monitoring wells.

    Additional vapor intrusion investigations will also be performed. See Cleanup for more information.

  • Creosote-related contaminants have been found in the soil and in groundwater zones in upper portions of the Springfield Plateau aquifer at and around the Facility. These include dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) as creosote, naphthalene, and BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene).

    Extensive karst features, such as voids, caverns, and sinkholes, exist in the shallow bedrock under the Springfield area, and many springs surface at points around the Facility. These karst features provide underground pathways for groundwater contamination to potentially travel farther than it would in other environments. Groundwater contamination is difficult to fully characterize in karst settings, as groundwater flow does not often follow a predictable pattern. This complicates the evaluation of contamination plumes and DNAPL migration.

  • The Multistate Trust has sampled and analyzed soil, groundwater, surface water, and air at and around the Facility and nearby neighborhood for chemicals related to releases at the Facility. The Multistate Trust has also evaluated potential vapor intrusion into neighborhood homes. So far, the chemical analysis results have not found Facility-related contaminants at levels that may be harmful to human health.

    However, the Multistate Trust is still investigating the potential presence of Facility-related contaminants in neighboring areas to refine the extent of impacts and to evaluate the likelihood of continued migration of contaminants off-Facility.

    Please contact the Multistate Trust or MoDNR to report odors or other unusual conditions (such as sheen on the ground or in water). The Multistate Trust will work with their local contractors to respond and determine if additional evaluation is needed.

    See fact sheets for more information about contaminants from the Facility: Benzene, Creosote, Ethylbenzene, Naphthalene, Toluene, and Xylene.

  • The public water supply is provided by the City Utilities of Springfield and is safe for drinking, cooking, and bathing. Find the Springfield 2021 Water Quality Report here.

    During the course of its investigations, the Multistate Trust recognized the presence of private drinking water wells near the Facility. The Multistate Trust sampled a number of private water wells located north of the Facility to assess potential impacts from Facility releases. The Multistate Trust did not find any Facility-related contaminants in the private wells that exceeded groundwater protection standards (GWPS). GWPS are the maximum concentrations considered protective of human health by the MoDNR.

    If you live near the Facility and are concerned about your private water well, contact Abby Sawyer, MoDNR at abby.sawyer@dnr.mo.gov. For more information, visit the MoDNR website.

  • The Facility’s future use has not been decided. The Multistate Trust hopes to work with community members and stakeholders to identify potential future safe reuse(s) for the Facility. The Multistate Trust’s aim is to integrate potential future use(s) into the Facility’s cleanup plans. Transfer or sale of the Facility or any portion of it must be approved by the MoDNR and the United States.

    If you have ideas about potential future reuses for the Facility, please contact Craig Kaufman of the Multistate Trust at ck@g-etg.com.

  • If the property is ready for reuse, it can be sold to the next user, consistent with any land use restrictions and community members’ visions for the next use of the Facility.

    The proceeds from any sale would be used to fund additional cleanup activities at or near the Facility. If there are no further cleanup activities needed, the proceeds would go to fund cleanups at other former Tronox/Kerr-McGee sites now owned by the Multistate Trust.

  • The Tronox Tort Claims Trust (the Tort Trust) was established by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to receive and process claims against Tronox for personal injury (health/medical) or property damage.

    The Multistate Trust is not affiliated with or related to the Tort Trust, and cannot accept, process, or pay personal injury or property damage claims.

    If you have questions about personal injury or property damage claims, please contact the Tort Trust at (800) 753-2480 (toll-free) or tronoxtorttrust@epiqglobal.com. For more information, visit the Tort Trust website at www.tronoxtorttrust.com.

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