OR&R’s Michel Gielazyn Selected for EPA Superfund Award
SEPTEMBER 20, 2021 ─ This week OR&R’s Dr. Michel Gielazyn of the Assessment and Restoration Division was part of a multidisciplinary team selected to receive the EPA’s “Superfund Advancing Innovations and Sustainability in Cleanup Practice” Award for her work at the Kerr-McGee Navassa site in North Carolina.
The Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation Corp. site is a former creosote wood-treating facility located on a 250-acre parcel of land adjacent to the Cape Fear River, Brunswick River and Sturgeon Creek in Navassa, NC. Creosote and sludge remaining from the wood treatment process were left on site, which led to the release of SVOCs, most notably PAHs, into the surrounding environment. In 2010, EPA designated the property a Superfund site.
A settlement in January 2014 provided more than $23 million for restoration for this site. Planning and implementation of restoration projects are ongoing, and aims to preserve unique and vulnerable habitats within the Lower Cape Fear River watershed and increase public access to natural resources.
Please contact Michel.Gielazyn@noaa.gov for more information.