Superfund sampling to start at J.H. Baxter

As part of its Superfund cleanup process, the Environmental Protection Agency expects to begin testing for contamination at J.H. Baxter & Co. in west Eugene as soon as this month. 

J.H. Baxter, at 3494 Roosevelt Blvd., has long troubled residents of the Bethel and Trainsong neighborhoods. For nearly eight decades, the company treated wood products such as utility poles with toxic chemicals designed to help the wood resist decay, but which are known to persist in the environment, contaminating soil and groundwater.

The treatment process used pentachlorophenol, a chemical linked to cancer, reproductive harm and immune system damage.

When J.H. Baxter ceased operations in 2022, contamination at the site was so severe that the EPA immediately launched a short-term cleanup to remove the most hazardous materials. That work was scheduled to conclude in 2025 but will now continue through January and possibly longer because of limited capacity at an EPA-approved disposal site.

The federal government shutdown did not affect work at the J.H. Baxter site, according to EPA public affairs specialist Alice Corcoran. The study will assess the contamination for a plan to deal with it, both at J.H. Baxter and around the facility.

During an EPA meeting in July, the agency said a preliminary analysis included sampling in Amazon Creek, which flows near the Baxter site, and in its diversion channel, which drains into Fern Ridge Lake.

At the meeting, a project manager said contamination offsite could be coming from a groundwater plume that the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has monitored since 1986. Neither DEQ nor EPA officials said what chemicals are in the plume or how large it is, telling Lookout Eugene-Springfield they did not have that data on hand.

In a Dec. 30 email to Lookout Eugene-Springfield, Corcoran said the EPA awarded a five-year contract to environmental and engineering firms EA/Northwind Joint Venture. 

Corcoran laid out the next steps: 

• EPA is coordinating a focused sampling effort for January 2026 that will identify the areas with the worst contamination at the property to determine if any additional removal work is needed.

• More sampling will likely begin in late spring or early summer this year.

• The need to sample any additional residential properties will be evaluated as the sampling plans are developed this spring.

Sampling is expected to help define J.H. Baxter’s broader environmental footprint. A Lookout Eugene-Springfield investigation this year found that waste from the company’s west Eugene plant was buried in barrels at the former Day Island Landfill, where Pre’s Trail now sits. Chemicals detected at the landfill include pentachlorophenol.

Agencies say they have not examined the landfill since the early 2000s. As of Dec. 31, neither the Oregon DEQ nor Lane County had discussed additional testing.

Meanwhile, J.H. Baxter President Georgia Baxter-Krause was released Dec. 18 from a federal penitentiary in Washington state, after serving a 90-day sentence for violating the Clean Air Act. 

The investigation found that company workers boiled 1.7 million gallons of contaminated water, letting toxic waste steam into the air like a stovetop pot left uncovered. They did this for at least 136 different days, without a permit, so they didn’t have to pay to dispose of waste properly, according to the investigation. Residents and advocates say justice has become elusive in the long fight over the wood treatment plant’s toxic legacy.