DALLAS – (Feb. 17,
2016) Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced
new safety requirements for the temporary armored cap at the San Jacinto
River Waste Pits Superfund Site in Harris County, Texas. EPA has
directed both International Paper and Industrial Maintenance
Corporation, the potentially responsible parties (PRPs) for the San
Jacinto Waste Pits Superfund site in Harris County, to add 24 hour/7 day
a week surveillance and warning buoys around the perimeter of the site
boundaries. Inspection protocol requirements will be expanded and double
the frequency of required underwater inspections from semi-annual to
quarterly. In addition, EPA has instructed the PRPs to conduct
additional environmental sampling from the temporary armored cap,
sediments, surface water and groundwater. On February 16, the PRPs
confirmed their intent to address each of EPA’s directives.
In December 2015, EPA’s inspection dive team
discovered an area of possible damage to the temporary armored cap.
Visual dive operations found displacement in the stone cover of the
protective cap but could not fully delineate the damaged area or the
full extent of damage to the protective cap. Pursuant to EPA’s direction
and oversight, the PRPs delineated a damaged portion of the rock layer
measuring 25’ by 22’ (surface area). The precise cause of the damage to
the cap is unknown and under investigation. The EPA has employed the
assistance of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to further investigate the
possible causes of the damage.
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