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EPA Adds Two Texas Sites to Federal Cleanup Priorities List

Release Date: 10/1/2003
Contact Information: For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200.

      The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) added the Conroe Creosote site in Conroe and the Jones Road Ground Water Plume site in Harris County to the federal Superfund National Priorities List (NPL), EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) announced today. Because of the listing, EPA can now implement long-range cleanup plans at the sites.

      "Listing these sites is an important first step in ensuring that public health and the environment will be protected.  EPA and TCEQ are committed to work together to clean these sites quickly and efficiently," EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene said.

      TCEQ Chairman Robert J. Huston said, "TCEQ stands ready to assist EPA in addressing problem sites such as these. Continued cooperation between our agencies is essential to clean all contaminated properties which are identified in the State of Texas."

      Conroe Creosoting Company was a wood treating facility that operated from 1946 until March 14, 1997.  The facility treated lumber, railroad crossties, poles and fence posts.  Three wood preserving processes were used at the facility: pentachlorophenol (PCP), creosote and copper chromated arsenate (CCA). Elevated levels of PCP, dioxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metals have been found in on-site soils, surface water, waste drums, and surface impoundments, threatening nearby residents, wetlands and rivers.  

      The Jones Road Ground Water Plume site is located approximately one-half mile north of the intersection of Jones Road and FM 1960 in a mixed residential, urban/light industry area outside the city limits of northwest Houston.   Hazardous substances, including cis-1,2-dichloroethene (DCE), tetrachloroethene (PCE) and tricholorethene (TCE), have been detected in drinking water wells.  

      The EPA Superfund program works closely with state agencies to clean and restore uncontrolled contaminated properties. Superfund cleans sites when the work required is beyond the resources of state and local agencies.

      More information about these sites is available on the EPA web site at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/new/newnpl.htm.