User:Oceanflynn/sandbox/Highlands Acid Pit

The Highlands Acid Pit is a 3.3-acre contaminated pit on a peninsula in the San Jacinto River 10-year floodplain in Highlands, Harris County, Texas, Located in the Houston area-a center of the the United States petrochemical industry-the Highlands Acid Pit is one of a dozen Superfund sites in the area "designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as "being among the most intensely contaminated places in the nation." "Early in the 1950s, the Highlands Acid Pit "unknown quantities" of "industrial waste sludges" "believed to be spent sulfuric acid, from oil and gas refining processes" were "deposited in on-site pits in the early 1950s". It received its Superfund designation in 1983.

Site history and contamination
"The waste disposal activities contaminated soil and groundwater with hazardous chemicals. Following cleanup, operation and maintenance activities and monitoring are ongoing."

Floods and contamination
The Highlands Acid Pit is located in a 10-year floodplain. It was the possible cause of a fish kill in Clear Lake in 1961 as a result of Hurricane Carla.

Hurricane Harvey
Highlands Acid Pit was one of "at least five highly contaminated toxic waste sites near Houston" that were inundated with floodwaters from Hurricane Harvery "raising concerns the pollution there might spread." "Among the Superfund sites completely flooded are the San Jacinto River Waste Pits, the site of a 1960s paper mill. Soil there is contaminated with dioxins — toxic chemicals linked to birth defects and cancer." The San Jacinto River Waste Pits (TXN000606611) are also in Harris county. They were designated as an EPA Supersite in March 19, 2008.

Impact on the Highlands neighborhoods
"In 1961, the site flooded due to Hurricane Carla, possibly causing a fish kill in Clear Lake."

According to the 2010 census in a ten-mile radius of Highlands Pit there were 523 households and a population of 1,462 including 104 toddlers, 353 under the age of 17 and 163 over 65.

According to 2014 reports KHOU news, and the Houston Chronicle, toxic waste from International Paper was dumped into The San Jacinto River Waste Pits (TXN000606611) along the San Jacinto River, and this has led to contamination of well water amid cancer concerns for some Highland residents.

Cleanup
"The site’s long-term remedy for source control, selected in 1984, included excavation of waste and contaminated soil with off-site disposal. The remedy also included backfilling the excavation, revegetation and installation of a fence. Cleanup removed 22,200 cubic yards of waste and soil from the site. Cleanup finished in December 1987. Institutional controls, including a deed notice, were implemented. The long-term remedy for groundwater, selected in 1987, was “no action.” Despite its name, the "no action" remedy included installation of groundwater monitoring wells and a 30-year monitoring program for groundwater and surface water. Monitoring is ongoing...EPA has conducted five-year reviews at the site. These reviews ensure that the remedies put in place protect public health and the environment, and function as intended by site decision documents. The most recent review concluded that response actions at the site are in accordance with the remedy selected by EPA and that the remedy continues to be protective of human health and the environment in the short term. Long-term protectiveness requires semi-annual groundwater monitoring, evaluation whether additional action is necessary for chemical concentrations above cleanup levels, implementation of surface water and sediment monitoring, and upkeep of wells and other site maintenance...Risks and pathways addressed by the cleanup include health risks from people ingesting or touching contaminants in soil and groundwater...Site cleanup has also included removal actions, or short-term cleanups, to address immediate threats to human health and the environment. In May 1984, EPA constructed a fence around the pit to prevent further illegal dumping and to protect monitoring wells from vandalism. In July and August 1985, EPA repaired the fence and posted warning signs."

Funding
"EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has called cleaning up Superfund sites a priority, even as he has taken steps to roll back or delay rules aimed at preventing air and water pollution. President Donald Trump’s proposed 2018 budget seeks to cut money for the Superfund program by 30 percent, though congressional Republicans are likely to approve a less severe reduction."