• OESER CO, WHATCOM County, WA

Stage of Clean-up: Study Underway

Conditions at Proposal (December 1996): The Oeser Company s ite is a wood treating facility located in the northwestern porti on of the City of Bellingham, Washington. The facility comprises approximately 23.5 acres and is surrounded by mixed residential and industrial properties. The terrain at the site is relatively flat, but south of the site the terrain drops steeply into a rav ine drained by Little Squalicum Creek. The creek is fed by storm water discharges from several outfalls and by ground water and f lows approximately 2,100 feet from the Oeser Company outfall into Bellingham Bay. The Oeser Company has operated at the site since 1939 and pr epares and treats wood poles for utility companies. CREOSOTE [wh ich contains semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs)] was used as the chemical treating agent until 1973. PENTACHLOROPHENOL (PCP) has been used on site since the 1960s in both pressure and therm al treatment. An expanded site inspection (ESI) was conducted by Ecology and Environment, Inc., (E & E) in August/September 1995 at the req uest of the EPA.  More...

Contaminants Detected
	Ground Water	Surface Water	Air	Soil	Other
ACENAPHTHENE		X	X
ACENAPHTHYLENE		X
ANTHRACENE		X
BENZ(A)ANTHRACENE		X
BENZO(A)PYRENE		X
BENZO(K)FLUORANTHENE		X
BIS(2-ETHYLHEXYL)PHTHALATE		X
CARBAZOLE		X
CHRYSENE		X
CUMENE			X
DIBENZ(A,H)ANTHRACENE		X
DIBENZOFURAN		X	X
DIMETHYL PHTHALATE		X
ETHYLBENZENE					X
FLUORENE		X	X
INDENO(1,2,3-CD)PYRENE		X
M-XYLENE					X
NAPHTHALENE		X	X
P-XYLENE					X
PENTACHLOROPHENOL					X
PHENANTHRENE		X
PHENOL		X
PYRENE		X
XYLENE (MIXED ISOMERS)					X

Groundwater and Drinking Water
Were drinking water wells shut down due to contamination?	No data
Are drinking water wells potentially threatened?	No data

EPA Hazard Ranking System scores for OESER CO:

Less Hazard

National Average

More Hazard

0%					50%					100%

Overall site:

Surface water migration:

Air migration:

Rank Superfund sites in the U.S., WASHINGTON, or in WHATCOM County by EPA Hazard Ranking Scores.

*Note: EPA's Hazard Ranking System is designed to screen and prioritize sites for the Superfund program, based on limited data available at time of listing. These scores are not based on a comprehensive risk assessment of the site and do not reflect conditions after initiation of cleanup work.

Number of PRPs currently associated with this site:

0

EPA Site Information

• Government Accounting Office (GAO) assessment
• NPL Site 5 Year Reviews
• Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) Hazardous Waste Site Information
• Superfund Hazardous Waste Site Advanced Query Form

Scorecard reports for this site on:

• Toxic Releases from Manufacturing Facilities (TRI)

Scorecard reports for WHATCOM County on:

• Potential Sources of Land Contamination
• Criteria Air Pollutants
• Hazardous Air Pollutants