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NPL Site Narrative for Motco, Inc.
MOTCO, INC.
La Marque, Texas
Federal Register Notice: September 08, 1983
Conditions at listing (October 1981): The Motco site, known originally as Petro Processors Site No. 1, is located near La Marque, Galveston County, Texas. It consisted of seven unlined open pits on 11 acres of flat coastal plains near Galveston Bay. The site, opened in 1959 to reclaim styrene tars, was devastated in 1961 by Hurricane Carla. For several years thereafter, it was used for waste disposal by independent haulers. One pit originally was used to receive a wide variety of wastes. The others were used to reclaim waste oil. Both organic and inorganic (copper, mercuric chloride, elemental mercury, and lead) waste was received at the site. Surface water, ground water, and air are contaminated. The site had a State permit to operate a series of "salvage ponds" between 1964 and 1968, when the city restricted open pit disposal. Motco, Inc., attempted to recycle wastes at the site from 1974 to 1976, when it went bankrupt. The site then went into receivership.
In 1980, and again in 1981, the Coast Guard, with EPA assistance, undertook emergency cleanups at the site, funded by $450,000 under Section 311 of the Clean Water Act. About 100 drums were removed, over 5 million gallons of wastes in the pits were treated and discharged, the dikes were reinforced, and the site was fenced. In mid-1981, using about $421,000 made available under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, EPA started a remedial investigation to determine the type and extent of contamination at the site and a feasibility study to identify alternatives for remedial action.
This is the top priority site in Texas.
Status (July 1983): The remedial investigation is complete, and the feasibility study is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 1984. In February 1983, $52,418 in CERCLA emergency funds were used to treat and discharge two million to three million gallons of contaminated liquids, providing 25 feet of free board. In June 1983, EPA signed a Superfund State Contract with Oklahoma for an initial remedial measure involving removal of the tanks and their contents.
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.