JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection are coordinating efforts to fast track cleanup near Fairfax Street Wood Treaters Site in Jacksonville, located at Susie Tolbert Elementary.
DEP has agreed to remove soil with arsenic concentrations during the week of July 16. The soil excavation and restoration are expected to be completed the first week in August.
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The levels of arsenic detected are well below the EPA's Removal Management Level and do not pose an imminent threat to public health or the environment, according to the U.S. government.
EPA officials said they will continue to work collaboratively with the State, City of Jacksonville, and the Duval County School System.
The Fairfax Street Wood Treaters site is in a predominantly residential area of Jacksonville owned by Fairfax Land Management, Inc., and was formerly used as a wood treating facility.
From 1980 to 2010, the facility pressure-treated utility poles, pilings, heavy timber, and plywood lumber products using the wood treating preservative chromated copper arsenate (CCA). Some of the CCA preservative dripped onto the ground during the wood treating, which resulted in soil and sediment contamination.
Under the Trump Administration, the Superfund program has reemerged as a top priority to advance the Agency’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment.
You can find more information on EPA's cleanup work at the Fairfax Street Wood Treaters site here.