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Three Texas Sites Proposed and One Site Added to National Superfund List

Release Date: 7/22/1999
Contact Information: For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200.

                               
     The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) announced that three polluted sites have been proposed for listing on the federal Superfund program's National Priorities List (NPL). Additionally, listing to the NPL of the former site of Hart Creosoting Co. in Jasper, Texas, has been finalized.

     "Before being proposed for listing on the NPL, an investigation of an abandoned site must demonstrate that the pollution poses a threat to public health. These sites pose a threat to drinking water sources for thousands of Texans. Adding the sites to the NPL will allow cleanups to be accelerated and remove the contamination threat to these vital drinking water sources," Regional Administrator Gregg Cooke said.

     "A safe reliable water supply is very important for the future prosperity of our state," TNRCC Commissioner Ralph Marquez said, "and cleaning a contaminated aquifer can be both expensive and very time consuming. That is why it is important to move as quickly as possible to preserve and protect these water resources now, before they become contaminated."

     Toxic chemicals were used to weatherproof timber at the Hart Creosoting site for 25 years before it closed in 1993. Soil samples taken throughout the 8.8-acre site in southwest Jasper County show elevated levels of these chemicals. The same chemicals were found in groundwater samples collected around the property and sediment samples from nearby Big Walnut Run Creek.

     While no water wells have been contaminated, polluted runoff from the site poses a threat to the aquifer that is the county's main source of drinking water. The April 30, 1999, proposal to add the site to the NPL received favorable public comment. EPA is evaluating various cleanup plans for the site and will seek public input as the best plan is selected and finalized.

     The former Garland Creosoting property in Longview, Texas, which is being proposed to the NPL, presents similar environmental problems. Shortly after the company filed for bankruptcy in early 1997, TNRCC performed an emergency response action to remove unprotected drums of hazardous materials and to prevent the spread of toxic chemicals from the site into nearby Iron Bridge Creek.

     The site poses a threat to public health because rainwater runoff could carry contamination from the chemical-saturated soil into Iron Bridge Creek and, less than 2 miles downstream, into the Sabine River. Both streams are popular fishing areas.

     A plume of contamination in the aquifer under the western part of Levelland, Texas, also is being proposed for addition to the NPL. About a mile wide and extending west to east along W. State Highway 114, the area is designated as the State Road 114 Ground Water Plume.

     Toxic chemicals have been detected in 28 ground water wells and residents have been advised that water from these wells should not be used. TNRCC and EPA have worked together to install and maintain filtering systems for 17 of these wells. Three of the public water supply wells for the City of Levelland have been closed as a precaution. Because the city's remaining water wells are down gradient from the contaminated plume, they are considered at risk for contamination.

     Contaminated surface water is the concern at the Star Lake Canal site in Port Neches, Texas, that is being proposed as an NPL addition. A variety of toxic chemicals have been found in the waters and sediments of Star Lake Canal, Jefferson Canal and Molasses Bayou. Decades of industrial wastewater discharges and polluted runoff from the many surrounding chemical and manufacturing plants are the suspected cause.

     Wetlands bordering the contaminated area are home to the white-faced ibis, a threatened species. Also, the polluted waters are just a few miles upstream of Sabine Lake which produced more than one million pounds of fish and shellfish in 1996.

     EPA will seek public comments for 60 days on adding these sites to the NPL. Those comments will be addressed when the Agency makes the final decision about adding the sites to the NPL. During this period, the Agency will continue to develop cleanup plans so that actual work may begin as quickly after NPL listing as possible.

     Send comments to Docket Coordinator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CERCLA Docket Office, Mail Code 5201 G, 401 M Street SW, Washington, DC 20460.

     Additional information about this site is available on EPA's regional web site at www.epa.gov/region6/6sf/6sf-tx.htm.