Firm hired to search for more creosote in Hattiesburg Mississippi neighborhood

January 24, 2008 - The city of Hattiesburg has hired a local firm to drill in a Hattiesburg neighborhood where residents believe the ground is contaminated with creosote.

The work is the most recent development in what has been an ongoing dispute over alleged contamination of creosote, a toxic chemical, from a closed plant.

Creosote was found in the ground at the site after the company went out of business in the 1960s.

Sometime prior to 1960, the creosote seeped into the ground of an old industrial park in the area, which then drained, contaminating several blocks near the plant, environmental agencies said.

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Mississippi Failing To Protect Families From Former Meth Labs

November 11, 2007 - We discovered homes can be bought and sold without the new owner ever knowing about the contamination left behind, even if the home appears to be cleaned on the surface.

"They can vacuum the carpets, they can wipe the walls down with rags, and they can spray air freshener in the house or apartment. You can walk in and never know there was a meth lab in there at one time. But if they were to see the pictures we took when we were there, people would be shocked," Narcotics Task Force Commander Curtis Spiers said.

Spiers says when police raid meth homes, they dismantle the lab and haz-mat teams remove the chemicals. But some problems are hiding beneath the surface.

"An actual methamphetamine in a vapor form is actually released during the chemical process. It goes into the walls, the ventilation system; the ventilation system circulates it through the house. This stuff in and of itself is dangerous," Spiers said.

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Mississippi residents fear carcinogen in soil despite cleanup

June 24, 2007 - More than 13,000 tons of soil containing the carcinogen creosote have been removed from a southeast Hattiesburg neighborhood, but residents have a lingering fear that the pollutant is still in their soil.

And their persistent pleas to City Hall caused a tumultuous last week in city government, leaving officials promising to conduct a new round of testing in the neighborhood.

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Mississippi Residents Protest Ground Contamination

June 12, 2007 - A group of about 30 southeast Hattiesburg residents converged this morning to protest outside the Mississippi Center for Legal Services office where Hattiesburg School Board President Sam Buchanan works.

The residents, who are embroiled in a battle over creosote contamination on the 16th Section land they rent from the school district, said the school district failed to notify them of the environmental contamination although the district was involved in a lawsuit for more than 10 years.

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