Characterization of Waste Tar Associated with Abandoned Wood Chemical Plant Sites in Northwest Pennsylvania, USA

Abstract

Over 70 wood chemical plants operated in northern Pennsylvania between ca. 1890 and 1950, all located within 72 km of the New York state border. Their original purpose was to salvage the small unwanted hardwood trees left behind by the lumber mills, and to make charcoal, calcium acetate and methanol for a number of industrial uses via destructive distillation. At many old wood chemical plant sites, unknown quantities of wood tar remain as a residual contaminant and pose a pollution threat to aquatic life in nearby streams. Research on the composition and properties of residual wood tars from five abandoned industrial sites in Pennsylvania are described. Weathered wood tars were more viscous and contained fewer volatile and semivolatile organic compounds than did soil-buried tars. Phenol, 2-methylphenol (o-cresol), 4-methylphenol (p-cresol), and 2, 4-dimethylphenol were found in all sampled tars. These water-soluble phenolic compounds were released quasi-instantaneously in aqueous solution, followed by a slower rate of release, consistent with the behavior of similar compounds in other dense non-aqueous liquids. Air-exposed wood tar deposits developed a hard crust, which contained fewer volatiles and semivolatiles and had a higher softening point than other samples. These tars eroded to form a powdered soil colonized by lichens and mosses. Residual wood tar material found at one site was shown to be thermally altered, likely during the historical destruction of the chemical plant by fire. Recovered wood tar wastes have a relatively high heating value and may have use as a potential, but limited, alternate energy source.