Epa Demands St. Joe River Get Cleanup Agency Holds St. Maries, Company Responsible For $1.3 Million Job

Oily cancer-causing creosote is leaking from the site of a long-closed pole treatment plant into the St. Joe River.

The land, on the river’s south bank, is leased by the city of St. Maries to Carney Products Co. Ltd. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered both parties this week to clean up the contamination. If they are unwilling or unable, the federal agency will do the work and seek reimbursement.

The EPA estimates the cleanup will cost $1.3 million and take six weeks to complete. Officials said it’s important to get the job started quickly before high springtime flows put more of the contaminated shoreline under water.

“We’re working closely with the city, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and the state of Idaho to prevent further contamination,” said Chris Field, manager of the EPA’s Emergency Response Unit in Seattle.

“Our initial investigation has indicated that there’s a substantial plume of creosote polluting the river. This order is a necessary legal step that allows work to begin immediately.”

City officials were meeting late Wednesday and unavailable for comment. Jim Comerford, president of Carney Products, said both he and city officials were dismayed to receive the order.

“They are a totally uninvolved party to the same extent we are,” said Comerford, whose company bought adjacent land from an existing pole manufacturer in 1980.

“I’m just reeling,” he said.

He acknowledged that, under federal law, the city is considered a responsible party because it owns the land, and his firm is responsible because it is a current operator. Carney Products uses the four-acre parcel to store and sort the utility poles it manufactures. No poles are treated on the property.

Creosote is a flammable, heavy liquid with a sharp smell that’s used to make wood more resistant to rot and insects. It was usually mixed with petroleum products such as diesel fuel before it was applied to poles. It can contain dangerous chemicals such as pyridine and phenols.

Environmental officials fear not only for human health - the St. Joe is popular with boaters and anglers - but for wildlife. Insects and fish could be poisoned. They, in turn, could be eaten by birds and other wildlife.

The river is home to threatened and endangered species, including bull trout and westslope cutthroat. Bald eagles also feed in the area.

An EPA investigator first visited the site on Jan. 7. He noted “severe oil staining and sheen on the river bank … a strong odor of creosote, and a hydrocarbon sheen on the St. Joe River.” He reported seeing treated poles, concrete scrap metal and rusted-out drums on the riverbank.

On Jan. 14, absorbent booms were placed in the river in an attempt to contain the leak.

Comerford said Cedar Cook Co. began operating on the site in 1930. It later was sold to B.J. Carney Co. In 1980, a Canadian firm with a similar name expanded into the United States and bought the St. Maries business.

Carney Products Co. Ltd., is now a subsidiary of B.J. Carney & Co., both headquartered in Spokane.

Comerford said he learned only recently that a treatment plant had operated on the site from 1935 to 1964.

“Last year, we got uncomfortable with a sheen and what appeared to be contamination on the site. We started doing some investigative work, and it confirmed our worst fear,” he said.

The company reported the problem to the city, which told environmental officials about it.

The city subsequently did a title search and found that the United States government actually holds title to the parcel, according to an EPA memorandum.

The EPA hasn’t finished researching ownership of the property. It is still estimating the amount of contamination.