| Work Detail |
Pollution from a former chemical plant in Live Oak has contaminated soil and shallow groundwater and could eventually make its way into the Edwards Aquifer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. However, no contamination from the site has yet been found in the Edwards, an EPA spokeswoman said. Live Oak officials said state testing has shown no cause for concern in nearby groundwater wells and that the closest well is at a higher elevation than the plant site, making contamination unlikely. Citing soil and groundwater pollution left behind after nearly 30 years of industrial activity, the EPA announced Wednesday that the former Eldorado Chemical Co. site at 14350 Lookout Road has been added to the National Priorities List. That list helps the EPA prioritize cleanup work and allocate funding for polluted sites across the country under the Superfund program. The current list includes 1,328 sites, 51 of them in Texas. In Bexar County, the only other active site on the list is the Bandera Road groundwater plume in Leon Valley. Eldorado was an active chemical manufacturer from 1978 to 2007, according to the EPA. Its business included making paint strippers and cleaners for the aerospace industry, according to a 2006 news release announcing the Indianapolis-based company’s sale of many of its assets to PPG Industries of Pittsburgh. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the EPA found that Eldorado’s operations left contaminants in the soil and “alluvial ground water with the potential to release into the underlying Edwards Aquifer,” according to the EPA. The site does not lie on the recharge zone of the Edwards Aquifer, the primary water source for more than 2 million people in and around San Antonio. The contaminants of concern that Eldorado left behind include the chemical solvents tetrachloroethene, trichloroethene, vinyl chloride and dichloroethene, according to the EPA. The first three are known carcinogens, and all four are known to have adverse effects on various skin and organ systems in high enough doses, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The TCEQ referred the site to the EPA in 2009 because of the groundwater plume, use of groundwater locally for drinking water and “the presence of geologic conditions favorable for migration of contaminants,” one EPA documents states. Despite “limited cleanup activities” on the site from 1984 to 1986, “without identification and investigation of the source of ground water contamination and remediation of the contaminated ground water plume, public and private wells may be contaminated,” the document states. That has not been detected yet, though the EPA does not know the extent of shallow groundwater contamination below the site, according to EPA spokeswoman Jennah Durant. Finding that out will be part of the first phase of the cleanup process, known as the “remedial investigation,” she said in an email. “This phase will also include sampling soil, water, sediment and air at the site for potential contamination,” she said. Live Oak utility supervisor Jim Neeley said TCEQ testing from around the time of the plant’s closure showed contamination had not made it to the city’s water system. The closest well is roughly 2 miles from the site, he said. “There’s no way it could even get into our groundwater there because it’s at a higher elevation,” Neeley said. The San Antonio Water System’s closest distribution points are more than 2 miles away, SAWS spokeswoman Anne Hayden said in an email. TCEQ sampling results from SAWS sites are below detection limits, she said. “Because SAWS has a large system with over seven sources of water, if there was a question concerning a well, we would be able to take it offline,” she said. “Of course, this would be at the direction of, or in consultation with, the state.” Live Oak City Manager Scott Wayman said the city has asked the TCEQ and EPA to give an update on the site’s history and cleanup plans. The city can then pass the information along to nearby neighborhoods and homeowners associations, he said. “With any luck … we’ll have a better idea of what this cleanup is going to look like,” he said. |
