EPA to hold meeting on cleanup of former Sonford site

FLOWOOD — The Environmental Protection Agency will hold a public meeting Thursday in Flowood to discuss the initial plans for cleaning up an industrial site.

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at Flowood Pavillion.

The EPA put the former Sonford Products site in Rankin County on the Superfund list in 2007.

The EPA says the site has soil contaminated with pentachlorophenol (PCP), lindane, dioxin, arsenic, lead and dibenzofuran compounds.

The site is 200 feet from a residential area in Flowood, an eastern suburb of Jackson.

The federal Superfund program cleans up the most complex uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country.

Sonford operated two chemical plants at the site from 1972-1985, the EPA said.

One plant produced sodium pentachlorophenate and also broke down 2,000-pound blocks of PCP that were used for wood treatment after processing. The plant was closed in 1980 after an employee died from poisoning because of exposure to high levels of PCP.

Sonford Products also broke down PCP for use in wood treatment and produced pest- and mold-control products.

Besides contaminated soil, wetlands on the site are contaminated.