Helping the public stay informed about the cleanup of abandoned waste pits.

The Galveston Bay Foundation wants you to be informed about the cleanup of the San Jacinto River Waste Pits Superfund Site. The pits are located on the west bank of the San Jacinto River immediately upstream of the I-10 bridge in Harris County. An additional pit, currently under investigation, is located south of I-10.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing the cleanup of the pits, which received wastes from the Champion Paper mill in the 1960s. These wastes contain dioxins, which are toxic and can cause increased risk of cancer and other threats to human health such as liver damage and birth defects. Dioxins have also been found in certain fish and crabs at levels which have prompted the state health department to issue seafood consumptions advisories in Galveston Bay and its tributaries.

The cleanup is being implemented by U.S. EPA and the responsible parties, McGinnis Industrial Maintenance Corporation and International Paper Company. To date, the following actions have been completed or are underway:

Activity	Description	Start Date	Completion
Remedial Investigation / Feasibility Study	The process of data collection and analyses of the site problem, identification of cleanup alternatives, and the recommendation of a clean-up remedy by the responsible parties.	December 2009	December 2013 (estimated)
Time Critical Removal Action	A short-term stabilization/capping of the waste pits by the responsible parties. In this case, an armored cap was placed over the waste pits to temporarily address the release of dioxin into the San Jacinto River.	April 2010	July 2011
Placement on National Priorities List	The U.S. EPA’s listing of the site on the NPL made it eligible for further investigation and action.	March 2008
Discovery of the Site	Texas Parks and Wildlife Department became aware of information suggesting the presence of waste pits in and adjacent to the San Jacinto River and notified the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.	April 2005

More details of the cleanup can be found at the following websites:

• U.S. EPA San Jacinto River Waste Pits site progress webpage at sanjacintowastepits.com
• U.S. EPA’s regional office (Region 6) San Jacinto River Waste Pits website at http://www.epa.gov/region6/6sf/texas/san_jacinto/

The Galveston Bay Foundation received a grant from the U.S. EPA to hire technical advisors that will review site cleanup process reports, provide expert input, and communicate the findings to the public. Galveston Bay Foundation will work with the technical advisors, Jennifer Ronk and Kali Frost of the Houston Advanced Research Center, and other community organizations to make the information available to the public. The Foundation has also utilized funding from the Texas Coastal Management Program to post seafood consumption advisory signs in the area of the pits.

If you would like to be added to our mailing/emailing list to receive San Jacinto River Waste Pits Superfund Site updates and public meeting notices, please contact Scott Jones of the Galveston Bay Foundation at 281-332-3381 x209 or e-mail sjones@galvbay.org.

For more information on the advisories, contact Scott Jones of the Galveston Bay Foundation at 281-332-3381 x209 or e-mail sjones@galvbay.org.