The Environmental Protection Agency has conducted a series of bench-scale and pilot-scale studies to evaluate the feasibility of washing pentachlorophenol (PCP) and creosote from the soil at an abandoned wood-treatment Superfund site in Pensacola, FL. The high sand content and low silt/fines content of the soil made soil washing a promising alternative to incineration. The bench-scale tests confirmed the feasibility of washing the PCP and the carcinogenic creosote compounds from the soil using a nonionic surfactant at the pH of nine to ten and a water temperature of approximately 120 F. The target concentrations for total creosote were not achieved, but the results were sufficiently close to warrant further testing. The pilot-scale tests using the EPA's mobile Volume Reduction Unit produced residual PCP, carcinogenic creosote, and total creosote levels below the target levels. The tests also produced comparison data on the effects of surfactant concentration, pH, temperature, and liquid:solid ratio. (Copyright (c) 1994 Elsevier Science B.V.)