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Malone Service Company Site in Texas City Proposed to Superfund Priority List

Release Date: 8/24/2000
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 Malone Service Company site in Texas City, Texas, to the federal Superfund National Priorities List (NPL), EPA and Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) announced today. Hazardous substances from the facility have contaminated the underlying ground water and have migrated to Galveston Bay, a National Estuary and major fishery, and associated wetlands.

     "Adding this site to the Superfund list makes federal dollars available, allowing EPA and the TNRCC to speed their cleanup and meet the agencies' commitment to protecting public health and our environment," EPA Regional Administrator Gregg Cooke said.

     TNRCC Chairman Robert J. Huston said, "The TNRCC 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 which affect the environmentally sensitive areas of our state."

     The facility received wastes from a variety of industries, and used a 5-acre impoundment for waste storage. Currently, the impoundment contains oily solids and contaminated water up to 40 feet deep. An onsite separator also contains residual waste.

     A shallow ground water aquifer beneath the site extends to Galveston Bay.  The earthen impoundment is partially unlined where it comes into contact with the aquifer.

     Ground water samples indicate that hazardous substances originally found in the impoundment and separator had been released to the underlying aquifer.  Chemical analysis of sediment samples collected from Galveston Bay during the 1997 inspection document that chromium and lead have migrated to the Bay.

     Galveston Bay is the seventh largest estuary in the United States and is part of the National Estuary Program. This 600 square mile estuary and its adjacent wetlands support a wide range of commercial and recreational fishing.  More than 70 species of waterfowl and shorebirds and 90 species of amphibians and reptiles inhabit Galveston Bay.

     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.

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

     Send comments by October 23, 2000, to Docket Coordinator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CERCLA Docket Office (Mail Code 5201 G), Ariel Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20460, 703.603.9232.

     Comments may also be submitted by express mail. Send original and three copies of comments (no facsimiles or tapes) to Docket Coordinator, Headquarters, U.S. EPA, CERCLA Docket Office, 1235 Jefferson Davis Highway, Crystal Gateway #1, First Floor, Arlington, VA 22202, or by e-mail in ASCII format only to superfund.docket@epa.gov.

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