REPUBLIC CREOSOTING INC.

Having a creosote plant in our town has been a mixed blessing.  Of course there was the smell and the fear of a health risk.  On the other hand, the plant provided much-needed employment for many people over a period of some 65 years.  It's gone now, cleaned up and decontaminated - in fact, St. Louis Park has some of the most tested water in the State.  But there are still some who wonder if there is "something in the water." 

For more pictures, go to http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/ and use Republic Creosoting as the search terms. 

Republic Creosoting Company, later part of the Reilly Tar and Chemical Company, was incorporated on January 20, 1904 by two Indianapolis men and Alexander W. Van Hafften of Minneapolis. In 1917 the company took over the site of the Minnesota Sugar Company, which went out of business in 1905.

The perimeters of the 76-acre tract are, as far as we know:  south of 32nd Street, north of Walker Street, west of Gorham and  Republic and east of approximately Pennsylvania Ave. 

There were six original plants, including those in Indianapolis and Minneapolis (by the flour mills in Southeast). The first Superintendent of the St. Louis Park Refinery was Carl E. Williams, and the General Manager was A.E. Larkin, who came from the Minneapolis plant (and was a U of M football star in 1910). The plant was enlarged in the 20's to its full 80 acres, presumably to the north, to store and season ties and lumber. Oak Hill Park was originally part of the property, and was donated to the City. A related company nearby, Wheeler Lumber and Bridge supply, used Republic’s products for their own work, making wooden culverts from creosote timbers.

Republic distilled coal tar into creosote, pitch, naptha, coke, and other byproducts. (Fun fact: There is only one gallon of coal tar in a ton of coal.) The pitch was sold to other companies (an ad listed road tar for construction of streets and highways). The company advertised a carbon coke, "the ideal ashless fuel" that "burns with a bluewhite flame without smoke or soot and because of its purity produces more heat than an equal quantity of any grade of coal or commercial coke."

Most important was the creosote, which was primarily used to preserve wood, usually white pine, for telephone poles, bridge pilings, fence posts, but particularly railroad ties. The process started when the wood, usually 8 ft. railroad ties, arrived by train, and had to be unloaded manually. The men who carried out this arduous task were called "tie buckers," a special breed of men who unloaded, dipped, stacked, and moved railroad ties to the train, all by hand. One legendary Tie Buckers was Dutch Reider, who perhaps in legend only, could carry two at a time. The coal tar also arrived by train, and was transferred to large stills. The actually processing of the timbers was done in a pressurized tank measuring 150 ft. long. 25 gondolas loaded with ties were rolled into the tanks on tracks, the doors were sealed, and creosote was introduced into the tank. Forcing the creosote into the wood extended its life to 30-50 years.

One employee of the 1930's described the job as so "brutal and dirty" that many unemployed men refused to work there. Tasks included loading coke, loading tank trucks with road tar, barreling roofing pitch, and cleaning stills. One of the worst jobs was chipping coke off the floor of the still, in temperatures that could melt your face. The plant did keep men employed, however, and although it operated only three days a week during the worst of the Depression, it got many a family through the crisis. The men were heard to declare “it took a little alcohol to thin out that creosote,” and spent much time and beer money at Reiss’s Tavern nearby.

Republic also sold “standardized tar products for road construction” and advertised that “There’s Permanence in BITUVIA Built Roads.” A 1935 ad promised fill value for every dollar invested, and that Bituvia roads can be constructed at low cost, were durable, resistant to traffic wear, and could be maintained at low cost. “Ask Your Councilman to specify Bituvia Built Roads.” Republic was proud to declare itself “A St. Louis Park Concern.”

Complaints about the plant came almost immediately. On April 4, 1918, one L.W. Fuller appeared before the Village Council to protest the “nauseating, disagreeable odor” emanating from the plant. A representative from the plant assured the Council that the proper machinery would arrive soon that would complete the necessary connections.

Engine Crew

There are differences of opinion about the dangers of creosote. Some say it is a form of disinfectant, and the tie buckers never got sick. In fact, when Grandma was feeling a little punk, she would go to the drug store for a little coal tar, mix it in hot water, and drink it down. (Coal tar is also a treatment for psoriasis, and is the active ingredient in T-Gel shampoo.) And one independent study showed that the tie buckers generally lived into their 80's and not one died of cancer or heart disease.

However, creosote in the water is not tasty, and when it leached into the water table, the City's first well had to be decommissioned. The presence of creosote in the water, soil, and air, and particularly the odors that were the result of the process became untenable as the City developed around it. In addition, the plant was in the way of plans to extend Louisiana Avenue from 32nd Street to Oxford.

Although everyone knew the place smelled bad, the EPA broke down the damage: polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and related coal tar derivatives were polluting the air. In addition, wastewater containing creosote and cola tar from plan operations was discharged to a ditch that drained to a swamp south of the site.

As early as 1961-62 the City worked to remove the plant, but in order to request urban renewal funds from the Federal government it had to establish a Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA), which Reilly tried to block, protesting that the plant did not constitute blight. On June 6, 1966, Councilman Jim Heltzer moved that staff report on the steps necessary to establish an HRA.

In the meantime, a 1966 ad boasted that "Republic might well be called the 'Heart of the Park' because it has pumped the lifeblood of economic security into the community." And an ad made to look like an article boasted that Republic had come up with a ready-to-serve electrode binder pitch that was used in making the aluminum that allows us to have hot pizza. A tank car with 18,000 gallons of the stuff makes its way to Flathead Lake, Montana where they make the aluminum.

In 1970, lawsuits were filed in Hennepin County District Court by the City and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to require compliance with air and water pollution regulations. The City HRA was formed, and Reilly Tar and Chemical went to the Minnesota Supreme Court in order to get what it considered fair value for the land.

The refinery was phased out starting in the summer of 1971, and they began phasing out the creosote operation in June 1972. The plant was demolished in June and July 1972. The plant was sold and closed in September 1972. The City dropped its lawsuit as a condition of the sale. Reilly, now headquartered in Provo, Utah, moved its operations to North Carolina. 85 employees (with an annual payroll of about $500,000) were affected by the closure. Reilly plants in Mobile and Norfolk had been disposed of, and the company was planning to discontinue operations in Lima, Ohio and Indianapolis.

The site was purchased on June 19, 1973 by the HRA with help from a $1.8 million Neighborhood Development Program grant received from HUD in April 1973. At the time, both the City and the State still had lawsuits pending. The City’s lawsuit was dropped, but the State’s went into abeyance and was reactivated in1977.

In January 1974, the Minnesota Department of Health found phenols in municipal wells.

In the 1970’s, E.H. Renner and Sons, Inc. was hired to seal three wells on the creosote plan property itself. They were the only well company in the metropolitan area that would take on the job, since the others didn't want to get their rigs contaminated. Renner had to steam clean its equipment after the job was done.

In 1976, the PCA gave the City approval to develop the northern end of the site, which became an upscale development called Somerset Oaks and a public housing project. Also, Louisiana Avenue was constructed through the site. On the south side, abatement procedures include "land farming" and the growing of oats to remove phenols in the soils.

Although Reilly had sold the site to the City in 1972 (with a hold harmless clause), in 1977 the State reactivated its lawsuit.

PAH compounds were first discovered in the water in November 1978 and wells 7, 9, 10, and 15 were shut down. The contaminants had leaked into the 400-ft. deep Prairie du Chien-Jordan aquifer. The closing of the wells were said to reduce the City’s water supply by 10 percent. Chemicals found in the water included anthracene, floranthene, pyrene, and napthacene. Well 4 was shut down in November 1979.

In September 1980, the Federal Government sues Reilly in Federal District Court under the new Superfund law – the first suit of its kind. In 1981, the City received $400,000 in Federal Superfund money. In September the City requested an additional $200,000 in Federal funds. $1.9 million was received in December 1982.

In February 1981, Hopkins well 3 was closed. In August, well 5 was closed. In October, the City began drilling Deep Well 17.

In July 1982, workers dredged nearly 1,000 gallons of coal tar, sludge and debris from the company’s supply well. Health Department officials suspected that the well was contaminated through spills as early as the 1920s or 1930s. There were also stories that Republic used the well to discharge waste water in the ‘30’s. The coal tar did not appear to reach into the Mt. Simon-Hinckley aquifer, which begins at about 900 to 1,000 feet.

The Minnesota State Superfund bill was passed by the house in April 1983 with a cap on municipal liability.

On May 18, 1983, Thomas Reilly, Jr., president of the company, presented a cleanup plan, hoping to settle the case out of court. The plan was developed by Environmental Research and Technology, Inc. out of Pittsburgh. The plan was met by skepticism, especially since it was not made available before the presentation. The PCA responded by presenting its own plan.

In July 1986, a granular activated carbon treatment plant was inaugurated at 2936 Jersey. The $750,000 plant was built to remove potentially cancer-causing hydrocarbons. The plan was built to filter water from wells 10 and 15. Opening of the plant permitted the reopening of four wells closed due to high levels of hydrocarbons. Another well was to open later, and a sixth well was closed. The plant consists of two filtering devices inside a brick structure. The plant could treat 1.7 million gallons per day, and was built by Calgon Carbon Corp.

Also in 1986, Reilly Tar and Chemical reached an agreement with City, State, and Federal agencies to clean up the site and maintain the City's drinking water for 30 years. A series of pumping stations installed along Minnehaha Creek have been clearing out the remains of the creosote for many years. The total cost of the project was estimated to be $6.7 million.

In 2001, the Louisiana Oaks Apartment complex was built on the southern section of the property, at the top of the old industrial circle.


2007


For all its liabilities, it is still true that the creosote plant provided employment for hundreds of families in St. Louis Park.  Although it is gone, some say they can still smell that foul but familiar scent of creosote in the air. Whether it be toxic or therapeutic, creosote will long be associated with the image of St. Louis Park.

A detailed site see Public Health Assessment.

Also see Creosote Plant Memoir by J. Frank Williams.

For another memoir concerning the Creosote Plant written by Virgil Neitzel, see the Oak Hill and the Republic Creosoting Co. chapter in Something in the Water.

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.