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Pelican Bay Ground Water Plume Proposed as Superfund Site

Release Date: 4/27/2005
Contact Information: For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200.

     The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to add the Pelican Bay Ground Water Plume site near Azle, Texas, to the federal Superfund National Priorities List (NPL), EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) announced today. A plume of ground water contaminated primarily with trichloroethene (TCE) has affected three public water supply wells and as many as 12 residential drinking water wells in Pelican Bay, Tarrant County, Texas.

     "EPA is continuing to make progress in protecting public health by cleaning up the nation's hazardous waste and encouraging economic revitalization and land reuse," EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene said.  "Adding this site to the Superfund list will make federal dollars available, allowing EPA and the TCEQ to speed our cleanup."

     TCEQ Chairman Kathleen Hartnett White said, "The TCEQ stands ready to assist the EPA in addressing problem sites such as this one. Continued cooperation between our agencies is essential to clean up all contaminated properties, particularly those located in environmentally sensitive areas of our state."

     The plume is about a half-mile wide and a mile long, centered in a rural residential area in Pelican Bay, along Sandy Beach Road at the intersection of Allison Avenue.  Tests show two of the municipal supply wells and nine of the residential wells have TCE concentrations above the accepted health-based level.  The aquifer is the only drinking water source for Pelican Bay residents.  EPA and TCEQ have not yet identified the source of contamination.

     The city of Pelican Bay closed the contaminated wells in its well field and is continuing to supply its approximately 1,500 residents with potable water from other wells.  Filtration systems have been installed on private residential wells.

     EPA will seek public comments for 60 days on adding this site to the NPL. Those comments will be addressed before the agency makes its final decision. During this public comment period, EPA will continue to develop cleanup plans so that actual work may begin as quickly as possible after NPL listing. The public comment period will end on June 27, 2005.

     Nationwide, seven new sites were proposed to be added to the NPL today and ten sites were added.   There are now 64 sites proposed and awaiting final agency action and 1,246 sites on the NPL.

     More information about the Pelican Bay Ground Water Plume site is available at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm.