Situation: Citizen complaint of containers floating into their residential property from flooding in the Houston area.
Action Taken
On June 11, 2001, a local resident of Houston, Texas reported a suspected haz waste and/or oil discharge to the National Response Center (Report #569107). EPA mobilized the Superfund Technical Assistance and Response Team II (START II) contractor to gather initial information. START conducted interviews with property owners who stated that they observed a sheen flow down their driveways. The residents reported that the origin of the sheen seemed to have originated in a commercial property located behind their backyards. START documented four 55-gallon drums, 37 five gallon buckets, and 4 one-gallon containers, which appeared to be empty and/or containing storm water and/or residual liquids. Most of the drums, buckets, and containers were labeled, "lubricating oil" and "heavy duty oil". START photo-documented the area and staged the drums and buckets upright to limit the potential for further leakage. START interviewed the owner of the commercial property who is the potentially responsible party (PRP), J Brothers Construction Services. J Brothers Construction Services stated that they planned to clean-up the debris and remove the drums within 24-hours.
Future Plans
EPA will verify that the PRP has conducted the clean-up. Case pends
|
