The former Big Tex Grain Site is located on a 7.5-acre lot in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, at 328 Blue Star Road. The geographic center of the site is located at Latitude 29.405° North Longitude -98.492° West.
The Big Tex Grain Site has historically been associated with industrial activity, including operating a vermiculite exfoliation plant, grain production, and sawdust warehousing. The EPA Region 6 office performed an assessment of the subject property to determine potential impact to human health and the environment based on the transporting of vermiculite from Libby, Montana, to the W. R. Grace vermiculite exfoliation plant in San Antonio, Texas. The property has been listed in the EPA CERCLIS database since 2000.
The site consists of approximately 32 structures including the Big Tex grain elevators and warehouses on the eastern portion of the property. To the north-northwest of the site, there are numerous grain silos that were converted into office spaces. The site is bounded to the south and west by Union Pacific railroad tracks and to the north and east by the San Antonio River. The site is secured by a chain link and barbwire fence extending around the entire perimeter of the facility. Within the facility exposed soil areas are heavily vegetated, but still accessible. The Big Tex Grain Site is scheduled to be developed into a “Mixed Use” facility.
While observing decontamination operations within Building 23, START and contracted microscopist located sheet flooring in the upstairs loft of the structure. A sample of the material was collected and analyzed at the Command Post by the onsite microscopist. The analysis of the flooring revealed that the material was made up of 70% chrysotile asbestos. This building is scheduled for AHERA Clearance Sampling in 3 days. This issue will require further investigations to determine the best removal approach.
EPA and its contractors will begin to formulate a plan of action in the next day. Will work on options to remove or seal in place. Prior to removal operations, EPA and their contractors will not enter the area of concern to mitigate the chances of distribution of the asbestos into decontaminated areas of the building.
EPA will go over removal options, and determine the best approach to address this newly found asbestos.
• State required notifications prior to abatement operations (typically this requires up to 10-days but can probably be fast-tracked with EPA involvement);
• Sample collected must be characterized and a state-certified validated laboratory report usually accompanies the notification;
• Abatement approach and methodology to be utilized;
• Upon approval, it is estimated that it will take approximately (2) days to accomplish the work.
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