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Y � rs A STUDY t P OF THE. PRACTICE OF THE "1cCORM I CK & BAXTER CREOSOTING COMPANY j, z or 611�alPr l RAS T(NG CREOSOTE TREATED LAGS Nit u�� IN MORMON SLOUGH BY BRUCE R. BARRETT AUTHORITY THIS REPORT WAS REQUESTED BY THE CENTRAL VALLEY REGIONAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL BZARD AT ITS MEETING ON 25 JUNE 1965. GENERAL. CONSIDERATIONS SINCE 1941 ; THE MCCCRMICK & BAXTER CREOSOTING COMPANY HAS HAD A PROCESSING PLANT ON MORMON SLOUGH IN STOCKTON. THE PROCESS IS ESSENTIALLY ONE OF PRESERVING LOGS AND OTHER TIMBERS BY PENETRATING THEM WITH CREOSOTE. SOME TIMBERS ARE GIVEN A COPPER TREATMENT., WHILE OTHERS ARE TREATED WITH PENTACHLOROPHENOL. OTHER PROCESS CHEMICALS INCLUDE VARIOUS PETROLEUM AND COAL-TAR FRACTIONS, CHLORINATED PHENOLS' AND A CHROMATE4 ZINC ARSENATE SALT. DOMESTIC AND PROCESS WASTES ENTER CITY OF STOCKTON SEWERS' WHILE COOLING AND BOILER SLOWDOWN WATERS ARE DISCHARGED TO MORMON SLOUGH. UNTIL ABOUT 8 YEARS AGO' ALL WASTES WERE DISCHARGED TO MORMON SLOUGH, INCLUDING LARGE QUANTITIES OF CREOSOTE, THE BULK OF THE COMPANY'S BUSINESS IS IN POWER AND TELEPHONE POLES, AND IN RAIL- ROAD TIES. THEY ARE LOCATED ON A RAILROAD, AND MOST OF THIS PART OF THE BUSINESS LEAVES BY RAIL. A SMALLER, BUT STILL SUBSTANTIAL, PART OF THE COMPANY'S BUSINESS IS IN SUPPLYING PILING FOR MARINE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS. ALMOST ALL OF THIS BUSINESS IS IN THc SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA. IN ORDER TO COMPETE SUCCESSFULLY WITH BAY AREA FIRMS, MCCORMICK & BAXTER USES WATER TRANSPORTATION WHICH IS CONSIDERABLY CHEAPER THAN LAND TRANSPORTATION. THE TREATED LOGS ARE DUMPED INTO MORMON SLOUGH, TIED INTO RAFTS, AND TOWED DOWNRIVER, THE FREQUENCY WITH WHICH THIS IS DONE IS VARIABLE, DEPENDING ON THE NUMBER AND SIZE OF JOBS FOR WHICH THE COMPANY CONTRACTS. A VERY ROUGH ESTIMATE WOULD BE 6 TO 8 JOBS PER YEAR, WITH A ROUGH AVERAGE OF 300 TO 400 LOGS PER JOB. LOGS SELDOM STAY IN THE WATER MORE THAN 4 DAYS AT THE PLANT SITE BEFORE THEY ARE TOWED AWAY. THE COMPANY FORESEES NO INCREASE OR DECREASE IN THEIR USE OF WATER TRANSPORTATION. NO DELIBERATE AGING IS INVOLVED IN THE TREATMENT, SO THAT LOGS DUMPED INTO MORMON SLOUGH MAY HAVE BEEN FRESHLY TREATED, OR THEY MAY HAVE BEEN STOCKPILED FOR AN INDEFINITE PERIOD OF TIME. FROM TIME TO TIME, VARIOUS PEOPLE HAVE NOTICED CREOSOTE SLICKS RESULTING FROM THE TREATED LOGS BEING PUT IN THE WATER, AT TIMES THE SLICK MAY BE QUITE EXTENSIVE, BEING 200 TO 300 FEET LONG AND 5 TO 10 FEET WIDE. AT OTHER TIMES THE SLICKS MAY BE SMALL AND SPOTTY IN THE RAFTING AREA, THE SIZE OF THE SLICK IS APPARENTLY DEPENDENT UPON THE RECENCY OF THE DUMP; THE CONDITION OF LOGS DUMPED, THE NUMBER OF LOGS IN THE WATER, THE MOVEMENT OF WATER THROUGH THE AREA, AND THE ACTION OF THE WIND.