Wood treatment, storage facility applies for voluntary cleanup

The Stella Jones Corp. (Stella Jones) has submitted an application to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to clean up a 59-acre tract of industrial property in Roane County.

The property is located at 3424 Parkersburg Rd., in Reedy, and is currently serving as a wood treatment and storage facility. The site produces primarily fence board, highway fence post and fence products. Historically, the facility also produced treated railroad ties.

Stella Jones is working with the DEP’s Office of Environmental Remediation (OER) to address environmental conditions at the site associated with the historical usage as a wood treatment and storage facility. Chemicals of potential concern are volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, and metals.

The OER and Stella Jones are negotiating a voluntary remediation agreement (VRA), which includes provisions for identifying human health and ecological risks associated with current and potential future uses of the site in order to establish appropriate cleanup standards. A final report will be submitted to the OER for review to confirm that the work meets all applicable standards.

The DEP’s Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP) stems from the West Virginia Legislature’s Voluntary Remediation and Redevelopment Act, which encourages voluntary clean-ups of contaminated sites, as well as redevelopments of abandoned and under-utilized properties, in the hope of counteracting the lack of growth on sites with contamination or perceived contamination.

Questions regarding the VRP or this application may be directed to either Mike Jackson, project manager; WVDEP, DLR/OER, 2311 Ohio Ave., Parkersburg, WV 26101, (304) 420-4635, or Brock Taylor, licensed remediation specialist, EHS Support, 3920 8th St., Rd., Huntington, WV 25701 (304) 942-7985.