In 2005 Solutia shut down operations at the 38-acre Queeny Plant after operating as a chemical manufacturing facility for 104 years. Although situated on 38 acres in a desirable location less than a half mile from Downtown St. Louis, with river and rail access, the site has remained vacant, likely due to Solutia’s 100-year environmental legacy. An EOI-related entity entered into an agreement with Solutia to acquire the site and assume all environmental liabilities. EOI negotiated with the USEPA on behalf of the new owner and entered into a consent agreement to conduct all required remediation at the site. EOI performed extensive site characterization and remediation is well under way.
The demolition of multiple plant buildings and chemical plant infrastructure has been completed. The new site owner has dealt with PCBs, chlorinated solvents, fuel oil, and other exotic chemical manufacturing residues. Negotiations are ongoing with potential users to restore the property to the city’s tax rolls and create new jobs as a commercial/light industrial business park. The anticipated development project cost is $62 million.