Should The Cleanup at The San Jac Superfund Site Be Based on Just 4 Ounces of Material?
As much as the residents living near the San Jacinto River Waste Pits Superfund Site want the toxic site cleaned up, they are standing firm against an incomplete plan. That was the message from THEA’s last community meeting held February 11th.
The companies responsible for the pollution, International Paper and Waste Management, the parent company of McGinnes Industrial Maintenance Corporation, sent what they said was the final design plan for remediating the Northern Pit to the EPA in the fall. THEA has analyzed the plan and presented its findings to community members at the February meeting. Now we will provide the analysis and residents’ views to the EPA as it reviews the plan and determines next steps.
On the plus side, the two companies (responsible parties in EPA terms) seem to have finally accepted that they can’t just leave tons of dioxin-contaminated material in the river. For years they have fought the EPA and community’s demands that the plan is to remove all of the contaminated material from the river. The latest version also seems better organized than the last draft, which appeared to be slapped together and full of contradictory information.
However, there are a lot of concerns over the plan as it stands now, especially since the RPs didn’t appear to incorporate most of the community’s comments on its latest version of the plan.
First, about that four ounces. The RPs want to start by collecting six ounce samples from nine different spots within selected areas of the Northern Pit, but then they want to dilute that by taking just two ounces from each of those samples, combining them into one container. Then they want to only test four ounces of material pulled from that container. Imagine taking four sips from a coke bottle. That’s about four ounces.
An even bigger concern is the RP’s timeline for remediation. They want to spread the work out over five years. The Record of Decision, which is the document where the EPA ordered them to clean up the site, called for the work to be done in 2 ½ years. It’s worth remembering that the EPA released its ROD more than seven years ago. Much of the delay came because the RPs asked for more time to study the site, produce insufficient plans, or were engaged in unproductive negotiations with the EPA.
By the way, during the time the RPs were delaying the cleanup, Waste Management’s stock went up by more than 66%.
Another concern is the state plans to expand the I-10 highway that passes next to the Northern Pit. There is no fundamental agreement among the parties over coordinating the two projects so that bridge construction crews and Superfund cleanup crews can work simultaneously.
After all the delays and years of Waste Management and International Paper failing to be responsive to the community, members of the San Jacinto River Coalition are frustrated with the holdups and unwilling to accept a plan that won’t adequately protect them. The consensus from the community meeting was for THEA to communicate to the EPA that it needs to move forward with an effective plan by whatever means possible, even if that means taking over the cleanup itself.
To view the slides shown at the meeting click here.
You can watch the full meeting here.