Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp – Soda Springs Plant Superfund Site, Soda Springs, Idaho
Greenfield Environmental Multistate Trust LLC, trustee of the Multistate Environmental Response Trust (Multistate Trust), is responsible for owning, investigating, cleaning up, and facilitating the safe reuse of the ±547-acre Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp – Soda Springs Plant Superfund Site, in Soda Springs, Idaho (the Site).
The Multistate Trust is a private, independent environmental response trust created as part of a bankruptcy settlement and dedicated to:
Protecting human health and the environment by addressing contamination at the Site
Selling or transferring the Site to facilitate beneficial, community-supported reuses
Providing opportunities for meaningful community involvement
Upcoming and Recent Activities
Record of Decision Amendment Issued, Proposed Plan Released
Click to view ROD Amendment
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) selected the revised remedy for the Site and issued a Record of Decision (ROD) Amendment in November 2023.
A Proposed Plan for changes to the Site cleanup approach was issued in March 2023, and a public meeting and comment period took place. See the Proposed Plan here and the accompanying fact sheet here for more information.
Site Overview Fact Sheet Updated
An updated fact sheet for the Site was issued in November 2023, summarizing recent cleanup actions and current activities in progress.
EPA Five-Year Review Is Complete
In September 2022, EPA completed a five-year review to determine if cleanup actions at the Site are protective of human health and the environment. See the fifth five-year review here.
Public Meetings and Events
Public Hearing - November 2, 2023
Multistate Trust presentation at ADC hearing
The Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) held a public hearing on Thursday, November 2 at Soda Springs City Hall to discuss the potential establishment of an Area of Drilling Concern (ADC).
A petition for an ADC was submitted by the Multistate Trust to put safety measures in place and prevent domestic use of groundwater as tap water during the cleanup of off-Site groundwater contamination. The ADC Petition can be found here.
Public Meeting - March 29, 2023
EPA held a public meeting on March 29 at Soda Springs City Hall to present the Proposed Plan for changes to the Site cleanup plan.
See the presentation here.
A Brief Overview
The Site is located on the east side of Highway 34, about 1.5 miles north of the City of Soda Springs. A Monsanto phosphorous production plant is located west of the Site, and a Monsanto expansion is under way north of the Site across Trail Canyon Road. South of the Site are other industrial facilities, and to the east are mostly undeveloped land and agricultural fields.
From 1964 to 1999, Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation (Kerr-McGee) operated the Soda Springs plant, annually producing up to 4.5 million pounds of vanadium, an alloy used to make steel. The plant discharged waste into several lined and unlined ponds on the Site. From 1998 to 2000, Kerr-McGee also operated a plant that reprocessed calcine tailings into fertilizer. In 2002 and 2003, Kerr-McGee demolished the vanadium and fertilizer plants.
Unlined ponds containing vanadium production waste leaked contaminants into groundwater and surface water. In 1989, groundwater contamination led EPA to add the Site to the National Priorities List of federal Superfund sites. In 1995, EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) outlining the cleanup plan to prevent further leaching of contaminants into groundwater. The Site remedy was implemented by Kerr-McGee from 1997 to 2001, and it included placement of contaminated sediments from the unlined ponds into an on-Site landfill, capping the calcine tailings, and long-term monitoring of groundwater quality.
Kerr-McGee transferred the Site to Tronox Incorporated (Tronox) in 2005. In 2011, as part of a Tronox bankruptcy settlement, the Multistate Trust assumed responsibility for owning, investigating, cleaning up, and facilitating reuse of the Site.
In 2015 and 2016, significant, Site-specific cleanup funds finally became available when the Multistate Trust received funds from litigation associated with Tronox’s bankruptcy settlement, enabling the Multistate Trust to begin actively conducting Site investigations to plan and implement remedial actions. Since then, the Multistate Trust has worked to address contamination in collaboration with EPA and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.
For more information, visit Overview.
Contact Us
Questions or concerns about the Site in Soda Springs? Please contact Lars Peterson of the Multistate Trust at LP@g-etg.com or (208) 297-6913.
The corporate parent and sole member of Greenfield Environmental Multistate Trust LLC (Multistate Trustee) is Greenfield Environmental Trust Group, Inc. (Greenfield). For more information, visit the Greenfield website.