EPA watchdog warns Sanders Beach cleanup could waste $6.7M and let contamination spread

The Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General found that the EPA's controls at the American Creosote Works Superfund Site are "not sufficient to prevent potential exposure to contamination" and could lead to the waste of $6.7 million.

The EPA OIG, the agency's internal watchdog, issued a report Monday that examines the management of the Superfund site for the past 40 years and how it could impact the upcoming $40 million final cleanup of the site with funding from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The IG report said the lack of controls and communications could lead to a potential waste of $6.7 million of the planned $40 million project if they're not addressed. The EPA responded to the report and said most of the issues in it will be addressed by the end of the year.

The former wood treatment facility American Creosote Works at 701 S. J St. in the Sanders Beach neighborhood closed in 1981 and left a polluted mess behind as highly toxic chemicals in the creosote, known as dioxins, leeched into the soil and contaminated the groundwater in the area.

Dioxins can cause cancer, reproductive and developmental problems, damage to the immune system, and can interfere with hormones, according to the EPA. Once in the groundwater, the contamination can leave the property and spread to surrounding properties.

In 1983, the site was named a superfund site, making cleanup a national priority because of its danger to public health.

Over the years, various actions have been undertaken to mitigate pollution on the site, and the EPA found that several private properties south of the site have been impacted by the pollution. By 1998, nearly 200,000 gallons of creosote had been recovered from the site, but approximately 600,000 gallons remained in the soil.

Work was essentially paused on the site in 2017 as the EPA waited for funding to be approved for the final cleanup of the site. That funding was included in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act as Congress gave the EPA $1 billion to address Superfund sites.

Previously: After years of advocacy, Sanders Beach Superfund site has funding to cap harmful chemicals

The site cleanup is now expected to be completed in 2027. It will require soil removal and replacement in at least 66 residential yards in Sanders Beach.

The city of Pensacola is expected to take over management of the ACW site once it's cleaned up to become a greenspace with walking paths, but no structure that could disturb the underground containment cap would be allowed to be built.

One concern in the area is that groundwater wells people may have to water their lawns or for other uses may be contaminated. In 1994, the EPA said it would use "institutional controls," which are the rules and agreements with state and local governments, to cap existing wells and prevent new wells from being installed. The IG report said that did not happen.

One example highlighted in the report is the EPA and Northwest Florida Water Management District creating a "groundwater delineation area" that notifies anyone seeking a permit for a well of the potential of pollution. At the time, the EPA said it would prevent new wells from being installed. However, the IG found new well permits were issued in 1997 and in 2004 to tap potentially contaminated groundwater, and the wells were still in use as of May 2023 when the IG made a site visit to Pensacola.

The IG said allowing the groundwater wells in the area increases the potential for direct exposure to contaminated groundwater and could lead to a waste of $1.3 million as the water could contaminate clean soil.

A bigger risk to spread contamination, the IG said, was from construction activity on private properties in the Sanders Beach area that have been contaminated. The IG report notes that the EPA decided to avoid trying to implement restrictive covenants on the properties that would prevent soil from being disturbed because of the "negative effect they could have on the EPA's relationship with the community." Instead, the EPA relied on a communication strategy to inform the community of the potential hazard.

The IG report praised the efforts of the EPA's remedial project manager, Peter Thorpe, who built trust in the neighborhood and encouraged its participation in the cleanup efforts.

However, the report noted that as property turns over to new owners in the future, a "knowledge gap" may be created. Other than Thorpe's engagement with the community, the EPA has not instituted "informational controls" to ensure the public remains aware of the contamination so it is not disturbed on private properties. The report also said the EPA is "missing opportunities" to communicate the site's risks to the community.

The disturbance of the soil could spread the contamination, wasting $5.4 million of the project's $40 million.

The report also highlights poor communication on the project's official website. The website was missing public documents that were supposed to be published there, and what was there was "difficult to find and understand or vague."

The IG report issued nine recommendations to address the issues with the project, and the EPA said it agreed with six of the recommendations and said all six would be implemented by the end of the year. The EPA disagreed with three of the recommendations.

One recommendation was to establish restrictive covenants on private property to prevent the spread of contaminated soil. The EPA said that removing contaminated soil on private properties in Sanders Beach is expected to begin in the fall, and trying to establish the covenants would delay the project by another year. The EPA contends the convents will not be necessary once the contaminated soil is removed.

The EPA Region 4 office, which manages the project, did not respond to the News Journal's request to comment Tuesday.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Sanders Beach superfund American Creosote works cleanup flawed IG says