Creosote Council Blog
Freight Railroads in the Modern Economy: Built on Old-School Creosote-Treated Wood Tracks
Preserving wood with coal-tar creosote, an organic bioproduct of coke and steel manufacturing processes, is a sustainable and efficient way to transform wood into high-performing infrastructure. Creosote naturally distills out of coal at high heats and extends the life of another organic material: raw wood. It can also be recycled at the end of its useful life by being burned for fuel. But these efficiencies of organic wood preservative don’t end with the railroad itself. This sustainable...
Creosote-Treated Wood Embodies “Reduce, Reuse & Recycle”
We’ve all heard the mantra “reduce, reuse, recycle”: the Three Rs of responsible environmental stewardship. They are listed in this order for a reason: the most efficient way to approach sustainability and limit negative impacts on the environment is—firstly—to reduce harmful industrial processes from the outset. If it is necessary to manufacture a product, then the second R, reuse, reminds us to use it for as long as possible to, again, avoid unnecessary industrial processes. Finally, when...
EPA Approves Updated Creosote Labeling
By David Webb and Larry Ebner Key Changes for Worker Safety and Treatment Processes The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently approved the continued use of creosote as a pressure-treatment wood preservative, granting approval under its rigorous Registration Review Program. For more than 75 years, creosote has been a trusted and continuously registered wood preservative under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). While creosote itself is regulated as a...
Creosote-Treated Crossties Laid the Foundation for the Nation’s Freight and Subway Systems
At the turn of the 20th century, innovations in railroad technology spurred the development of new kinds of railroad networks centered around urban areas. These short-line railroads continued to depend on wooden crossties treated and preserved with creosote. And while many of these early 20th-century rail lines fell into disuse, their short-line successors continue to serve an important role in transportation and economic prosperity. The 20th Century: A...
How Creosote-Treated Crossties Turned Cowboys into Legends
At the start of the 19th century, there was no Texas as we know it today. Rather, west of Louisiana—the French colony-turned-state at the conclusion of the War of 1812—was a dry and rugged patchwork of native American and Mexican-held lands. After two rounds of war with Mexico and a period of independence, Texas became a U.S. state in 1845. This was fortuitous timing, for the most critical innovation in wood preservation technology, the Bethell pressure treatment method, had just been invented...