Kerr-McGee plans to restore polluted ditch in Mississippi

COLUMBUS, Miss. (AP) _ Oklahoma City-based Kerr-McGee says it plans to clean a contaminated drainage ditch near its wood treatment plant in Columbus, Mississippi. <br/><br/>Kerr-McGee is cooperating with

Sunday, August 1st 2004, 5:23 pm

By: News On 6

COLUMBUS, Miss. (AP) _ Oklahoma City-based Kerr-McGee says it plans to clean a contaminated drainage ditch near its wood treatment plant in Columbus, Mississippi.

Kerr-McGee is cooperating with federal agencies to determine the extent of the contamination and whether people have been sickened because of it.

According to environmental regulators, toxic creosote and other cancer-causing chemicals have settled deep into the soil of ditches draining from the plant. Officials have been working since the 1990s to determine how severe it is.

Kerr-McGee says its uncertain where the pollution came from, but it has started cleanup efforts anyway.

Kerr-McGee says it will remove about 18 inches of sediment in specific locations of a the two-thousand-foot long ditch. The company will then replace the sediment with clay and sand.