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Questions or Comments: superfnd@tceq.texas.gov

McBay Oil and Gas

This former oil refinery and oil reclamation plant site near Grapeland, in Houston County, is in the remedy selection phase of the state Superfund program.

Site Summary

The McBay Oil and Gas state Superfund site (the site) is located on a 20.32-acre tract on Farm to Market (FM) Road 1272, two miles west of the intersection with FM 2968 (North Olive Street), near Grapeland, Texas, in Houston County. The site was used from the 1930s to 1987 for various operations including a crude oil refinery, a gas recycling plant, an oil field parts storage yard, and an oil reclamation plant. Wastes generated from operations at the site included petroleum refining wastes, waste oils, barge bottoms, tank bottoms, and fluids containing salts, de-emulsifiers, polymers, and surfactants.

Superfund Registry

The site was proposed for listing on the state Superfund registry in the Texas Register July 25, 1986 issue (11 TexReg 3421) and listed on the state Superfund registry in the Texas Register January 16, 1987 issue (12 TexReg 205).

Pursuant to a May 1990 Agreed Order, a retention basin was constructed and land treatment was conducted at the site, which included the construction of a land treatment unit and treatment of 3,717 cubic yards of excavated contaminated soil. In the late 1990s, a group of 21 Potentially Responsible Parties conducted removal actions which included removal and off-site disposal of oil and gas exploration and production waste sludges and fluids from 187 drums, 34 tanks, and 1,000 feet of aboveground piping which were located at the site. Also, 162 cubic yards of impacted soils to depths of 6 to 8 inches were removed in the vicinity of an on-site storage tank area. The removal actions were completed in October 1998.

Current Status

The TCEQ completed the remedial investigation phase by finalizing the Affected Property Assessment Report for the site in January 2020. In February 2020, the TCEQ completed a Focused Feasibility Study, which evaluated remedial action alternatives for the site. Also, in February 2020, the TCEQ prepared a Proposed Remedial Action Document (PRAD), which presents the proposed remedial action alternative (remedy) for the site and describes the evaluation process that was used to select the proposed remedy.

The TCEQ previously scheduled a public meeting for April 9, 2020, in Grapeland, Houston County, Texas, concerning the proposed remedy for the site. The public meeting was cancelled until further notice. The cancellation notice was published in the Texas Register April 3, 2020 issue (45 TexReg 2328).

September 17, 2020 Public Meeting

The TCEQ rescheduled this meeting, which was held on September 17, 2020, at 6:00 p.m., via Microsoft Teams Live Event webcast.

Site documents are available for review at the J. H. Wootters Crockett Public Library, located at 709 East Houston Avenue, in Crockett, Texas, (936) 544-3089, and the Grapeland Public Library, located at 212 North Oak Street in Grapeland, Texas, (936) 987-3425. Please contact the libraries directly for their hours of operation. Should additional assistance be needed in obtaining documents for the site, contact John Flores at (800) 633-9363 or email your request to superfnd@tceq.texas.gov.

The public meeting notice was published in the Grapeland Messenger and the Houston County Courier on August 6, 2020. Notice was also published in the Texas Register August 7, 2020 issue (45 TexReg 5525).

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