The Site is a former asphalt manufacturing and petroleum refining facility. It appears that construction of the facility was completed in approximately 1960 and asphalt manufacturing was initiated in approximately 1962. The asphalt manufacturing and petroleum refining operations were ceased in approximately 1990 with the bankruptcy of Lacostex Corporation. In approximately March 1993, the taxing authorities foreclosed on the property and subsequently sold the property to Western Environmental of Oklahoma, LLC, the current owner, in September 1997. Western Environmental purchased the property for the intent of conducting salvage operations. The salvage operations began in September 1997 and continued until early November 1997 when a tank fire occurred. Subsequent investigations by the Texas Department of Health noted that the company failed to notify of demolition activities and had disposed of asbestos containing material to the ground surface. Western Environmental abandoned the facility on approximately November 10, 1997 and have conducted no additional cleanup activities even after being ordered by the Texas Department of Health (TDH) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The Site is located on approximately 38.4 acres of which only approximately 10 acres were used for the facility operations. The Site is a former asphalt manufacturing and petroleum refinery facility. According to information received from a former employee, the petroleum refining operations were insignificant. The Site consists of 18 Aboveground Storage Tanks (ASTs), 6 concrete lined sumps, oil/water separator, 59 drums,77 small containers of laboratory chemicals, main office, laboratory building, loading/unloading rack, and processing/storage building. The approximate volume and general classification of the wastes located on site include 400,000 gallons of oil wastes, 30,000 gallons of hazardous substances, and 12,221 square feet of asbestos containing material.
The EPA has entered into an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) with Kewanee Industries, Inc., a former owner/operator of the Site. Kewanee operated on the facility from approximately March 1966 to August 1975. The AOC was signed and became effective on June 4, 2002. Kewanee Industries, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron U.S.A., Inc.. Chevron Environmental Management Company (CEMC), an affiliate of these companies, has assumed responsibility to perform the work under the AOC.
On July 18, 2002, CEMC has submitted workplans which were reviewed and approved by EPA. CEMC went out for bids to conduct the associated work. The bids were significantly different since they did not have a good handle on the characterization (haz or non-haz) of the materials and CEMC elected to bid the work out in 2 Phases.
Phase I would include the asbestos abatement and characterization of the materials in vessels, containers, and sumps; and, Phase II would involve the removal and disposal of materials and the demolition of the facility.
Phase I began on January 6, 2003 and was completed on January 23, 2003. Asbestos abatement was conducted in the following areas: Office and Laboratory Buildings, Upflo Heater Unit, Roof of ASTs T14 & T15, valve on the side of T12, affected soils in the main refinery area & surrounding grassy areas, tank pad area to the south of the south shed & surrounding grassy area. Third party air quality clearance sampling was conducted during abatement activities. Background air quality samples were also collected. A total of 10 roll-off boxes were transported off-site to the Waste Management Covel Gardens Landfill in San Antonio (4 roll-offs asbestos containing demolition debris, 4 roll-offs containing soil affected with ACM and 2 roll-offs with general site debris).
On May 13, 2003, EPA approved the Phase II workplan.
On June 30, 2003, CEMC Contractors mobilized to the site to begin the removal and disposal of the chemicals and the demolition of the structures on the facility. As of July 31, CEMC has disposed of 24,500 gallons of Class I Hazardous Waste; 480 yards of Class II Waste (construction debris); 5,200 gallons oily materials; and approximately 20,000 gallons of contaminated water have been treated by the on-site treatment skid and will be discharged to the La Coste POTW.
The planned removal actions for this site include: asbestos abatement; removal and disposal of hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants, and oil; decontamination of containers, equipment, piping, and buildings; removal and disposal/recycle containers, equipment, piping, and other contaminated items; and, removal and disposal of visibly contaminated soils.
Following the completion of the removal action, CEMC will be evaluating the surface soils and groundwater to determine if any further removal activities may be necessary.
The continuation of these activities.
This site has both hazardous substances where cleanup is authorized under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and oil where cleanup is authorized under the Oil Pollution Act (OPA). A Federal Project Number (FPN) has been obtained from the United States Coast Guard (USCG) to cover the EPA oversight costs associated with the OPA portion of the removal action. At this time, it is believed that approximately 90% of the materials on-site may be handled under OPA. In addition, the EPA intends on reallocating its past costs once a final determination is made on the amount of CERCLA and OPA wastes that are present.
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