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Saint Maries CREOSOTE SITE VIBRACORE SAMPLING

St. Maries, ID

Client: Arcadis

St. Maries Creosote site is immediately adjacent to, and south of, the St. Joe River in the city of St. Maries, Idaho. From 1939 through 1964, the site was used for peeling and treating logs to be used for poles. The bottom portion of the poles were treated by soaking in large butt vats filled with creosote, a wood preservative containing 80% polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), to prevent the poles from rotting once installed into the ground. The butt vats were located approximately 50 to 75 feet from the bank of the St. Joe River. Historically, as the treated poles were loaded onto rail cars by the stiff arm, creosote dripped onto the soil around the butt vats and rail cars. If several cars were loaded at once, poles would drip creosote onto the soil beneath the rail line.

DMS was commissioned to collect data needed for the remediation of the site by conducting a hydrographic survey of the river bottom and then collect subsurface sediment samples to further characterize the distribution of contaminants across the site.  The R/V Walter Marie was mobilized to take vibracore and grab samples.