Officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency soon will determine if a black substance discovered near the Maranatha Faith Center on Waterworks Road is a toxic industrial byproduct.
EPA crews Thursday took soil samples around the church, and will analyze the samples at the agency”s Georgia laboratory before determining if the soil contains creosote contaminants, said Marantha pastor, the Rev. Steve Jamison.
“We discovered it when we were excavating to build a parking lot at the church,” Jamison said Thursday morning, adding he first discovered creosote on the church property 10 years ago. “The city paved over that ditch knowing there was creosote contamination there.”
Creosote was a product used from 1935 to 2003 to manufacture pressure-treated railroad ties at a Kerr-McGee manufacturing plant on 14th Avenue North in Columbus.
After the plant closed in 2003, environmental testing agencies discovered creosote contamination in sediment samples from drainage ditches and residents around the former plant.
Creosote is a thick and oily liquid — usually amber to black in color –which commonly is used to preserve wood in the United States and as a pesticide.
Scientists from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry in September 2008 reported creosote found in the area posed a potential hazard as a skin contaminant.
Lawsuits related to contamination at various Kerr-McGee sites in the country already have been settled for hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of lawsuits still are pending, Jamison noted.
Marantha Faith Center and Jamison also have lawsuits pending against Kerr-McGee.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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