News Releases from Region 06

EPA conducts field work at old Chemical plant near San Antonio

EPA conducts field work at old Chemical plant near San Antonio

DALLAS – (May 12, 2017) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has started its remedial investigation at the Eldorado Chemical Company Superfund site near San Antonio, Texas. The first phase of work will include ground water sampling and geophysical evaluation of monitoring and water wells. 

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality referred the site to the EPA Superfund program for cleanup. The EPA remedial investigation started in late April with plans to complete the work by the end of this summer. Subsequent activities will include defining the remaining contaminant sources on the property using soil, soil gas and ground water sampling.

The Remedial Investigation/Feasibility study is anticipated to take about three years to complete and will result in a proposed plan for cleanup. The public will have an opportunity to review the plan and make comments.

In September 2016, EPA added the site to the list of contaminated sites that pose risks to public health and the environment as part of the Superfund program. After defining the potential risks to public health, EPA will be able to provide the best scientific strategy to clean the site.

The site is located in the suburb of Live Oak, Bexar County, Texas, northeast of San Antonio. The former cleaning product manufacturing site contains soil and groundwater contaminated with chlorinated solvents including tetrachloroethene, trichloroethene, dichloroethene and vinyl chloride.

If not addressed, the contaminants could harm the Edwards Aquifer, which provides drinking water to 215,722 local residents. Tetrachloroethylene is considered a potential human carcinogen. Animal studies have shown exposure over long periods could cause other effects in the liver and kidneys and changes in brain chemistry.

Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country and converts them into productive community resources by eliminating or reducing public health risks and environmental contamination.

Information about the Superfund process is available at: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-cleanup-process

For more information on Eldorado Chemical site, please visit:

https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0607012

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