Frequently Asked Questions

The approximately 547-acre Site is located at 1864 Highway 34, about 1.5 miles north of the City of Soda Springs (City). From 1964 to 1999, Kerr-McGee operated a plant that annually produced up to 4.5 million pounds of vanadium, an alloy used to make steel. From 1998 to 2000, Kerr-McGee operated a second plant that reprocessed calcine tailings to produce fertilizer. In 2001, Kerr-McGee capped the calcine area. The vanadium and fertilizer plants were demolished in 2002 and 2003.

In 2005, Kerr-McGee transferred the Site to Tronox LLC, a corporate shell that later filed for bankruptcy. As part of the 2011 Tronox bankruptcy settlement, the Multistate Trust was created to own, investigate, clean up, and facilitate reuse of the Site under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ) oversight. The Trustee of the Multistate Trust is Greenfield Environmental Multistate Trust LLC.

The Multistate Trust owns the Site.

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 Kerr-McGee/Tronox sites, including this Site in Soda Springs.

The Multistate Trust conducted a series of investigations to build on data initially collected by former Site owners. These investigations are documented in a series of reports, prepared under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), otherwise known as Superfund. Groundwater and surface water monitoring is also ongoing.

In 2023, EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) Amendment for the Site. This ROD Amendment updates the Site cleanup approach to address soil and groundwater contamination.

The primary contaminants of concern are molybdenum and vanadium in groundwater. Molybdenum (mo · lyb · de · num) and vanadium (va · na · di · um) are metallic elements widely found in nature and present in food such as lentils, black beans, oats, and dietary supplements (molybdenum), and milk, vegetables, grains, and cereals (vanadium). Small amounts of molybdenum are essential to a healthy diet, and small amounts of vanadium are normal in human and animal diets.

Long-term, chronic exposure to excessive amounts of molybdenum or vanadium can pose health risks, including joint pain and gout-like effects (molybdenum) or lung irritation and kidney damage (vanadium). Both are used in industry to help strengthen structural metals and alloys. Molybdenum is also used in pigments, corrosion inhibitors, smoke suppressants, lubricants, and agricultural fertilizers.

The figure linked here shows the estimated areas where molybdenum (solid red line) and vanadium (dotted yellow line) may be present in groundwater and/or surface water above EPA’s regional screening level for tap water (100 milligrams/liter [mg/L] for molybdenum, and 86 mg/L for vanadium).

In the areas outlined in the figure linked here, groundwater (including well water) should not be used for drinking, cooking, or bathing.

Public Tap Water: Provided by the City of Soda Springs and delivered by pipes to your home, public tap water is tested regularly and does not contain high levels of molybdenum or vanadium. Public tap water is safe for drinking, cooking, bathing, and irrigation.

Groundwater: Located below the ground surface, groundwater has been found to contain elevated levels of molybdenum and vanadium in some areas around Soda Springs. See the figure linked here. If a well is installed on your property, you should verify that it is not connected to your home’s plumbing. In the areas outlined in the figure, groundwater (including well water) should not be used for drinking, cooking, or bathing.

Surface Water: Surface water is located at ground level, such as in streams, creeks, rivers, lakes, and ponds. In Soda Springs, groundwater comes to the surface in some areas, including into basements and along roadways. In some areas where groundwater surfaces, the associated surface water may contain elevated levels of molybdenum and/or vanadium. As a result, you should not use surface water for drinking, cooking, or bathing. Surface water is safe for swimming and fishing.

The Site’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 Site. Transfer or sale of the Site or any portion of it must be approved by EPA, in consultation with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and the State of Idaho, represented by IDEQ.

Cleanup actions proposed by the Multistate Trust for the Site will take into consideration a range of potential industrial or commercial future reuses.

If you have ideas about potential future Site reuses, please contact Lars Peterson, the Multistate Trust Senior Project Manager, at LP@g-etg.com or (208) 297-6913.

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

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

The Tronox Incorporated 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 Tronox Tort Claims Trust at (800) 753-2480 (toll-free) or tronoxtorttrust@epiqglobal.com. For more information, visit the Tronox Tort Claims Trust website at www.tronoxtorttrust.com.

To be added to the Multistate Trust’s communications and mailing list, please contact Lars Peterson at LP@g-etg.com or (208) 297-6913.