Skip to Content
Questions or Comments: superfnd@tceq.texas.gov

Phipps Plating

No further Superfund environmental response actions are required at this former metal plating site in San Antonio, Bexar County.

Site Background

The Phipps Plating site is located at 301–305 E. Grayson Street in San Antonio. Since 1948, the company had operated an electroplating metal parts and fixtures facility. Some of the plating process involved cyanide compounds. The second floor of the building was used to grind and polish metal surfaces. The San Antonio regional office of the TNRCC inspected the site in May 1993 and found it to be abandoned. The TNRCC then conducted an emergency removal of sludge and drummed waste and secured access to the site by fencing the perimeter and securing all entrances to the building. In November 1994, the TNRCC conducted a preliminary assessment inspection to assess the site for possible federal action and for possible inclusion to the federal Superfund list. Upon determination that the site did not qualify for the National Priorities List, the site was proposed to the state Superfund registry.

Superfund Actions Taken to Date

  • August 1993 the TNRCC emergency response team conducted an emergency removal of sludge and drummed waste, and limited unauthorized access to the site by fencing the perimeter and securing all entrances to the building.
  • September 1, 1993, effective date of the creation of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission from the joining of the Texas Water Commission and the Texas Air Control Board and a portion of the Texas Department of Health.
  • July 22, 1997, a legal notice was published in the Texas Register, (22 TexReg 6897) and the San Antonio Express-News describing the site, proposing the site for listing on the state Superfund registry, and setting a period for receipt of written comments. A public meeting to receive citizen comments was to be held at the Hawthorne Elementary School in San Antonio on August 28, 1997.
  • July 22, 1998, TNRCC issued a contract to WRS Infrastructure and Environment to perform the removal action, which included demolition of all site structures and disposal of the debris in an approved landfill, excavation of the contaminated soil and disposal in an appropriate landfill, backfill the excavated areas with clean soil, and seed the area for grass.
  • January 20, 1999, a removal action, consisting of demolition of on-site buildings and cleanup of the debris, and excavation of the top 2–5 feet of soil all across the site was conducted by the TNRCC contractor.
  • February 19, 1999, the removal action was completed, and a fence was installed to limit unauthorized access.
  • July 23, 1999, a legal notice was published in the Texas Register, (24 TexReg 5798) and the San Antonio Express-News, proposing non-residential land use specifications for remediation of the site contamination. The land use designation may be considered in any remedial action proposed for the site. A public meeting, to receive citizen comments, was to be held August 24, 1999, at Hawthorne Elementary School.
  • August 24, 1999, a public meeting was held at the Hawthorne Elementary School in San Antonio to receive community comments on the proposal to use commercial/industrial land use specifications for remediation of the site contamination. The nonresidential use of the land may be considered in any remedial action proposed for the site.
  • October 31, 1999, TNRCC issued a work order to the state contractor for a focused Phase I remedial investigation.
  • November 11, 1999, focused remedial investigation under way.
  • March 2, 2000, additional monitoring wells were installed and soil samples were collected.
  • November 30, 2000, TNRCC completed an access agreement with off-site landowners to permit installation of additional off-site monitoring wells.
  • January 30, 2001, TNRCC completed an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation for access to their right-of-way property adjacent to the site.
  • June 15, 2001, TNRCC completed an amendment to the access agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation to obtain background soil samples on TxDOT right of way.
  • July 12, 2001, TNRCC and the TNRCC consultants collected background soil samples from the TxDOT right of way.
  • September 1, 2001, TNRCC issued a work order to the consultant to install additional monitoring wells and collect surface soil samples.
  • November 12–19, 2001, the TNRCC consultant conducted the additional field work, which included the installation of five monitoring wells and surface soil sampling to determine if contaminants had migrated off site.
  • May 15, 2002, TNRCC received the focused remedial investigation report which recommended that additional groundwater investigation be conducted.
  • July 9, 2002, TNRCC issued a work order to its consultant to perform additional groundwater investigations which would include installation of additional monitor wells.
  • August 2002, TNRCC’s consultant installed an additional monitor well on the property adjacent to the site.
  • September 1, 2002, effective date of the name change from Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
  • October 21, 2002, TCEQ issued a work order to the consultant to perform additional field work for the next phase of the remedial investigation.
  • November 6, 2002, TCEQ project manager visited the site to select sampling locations for the next phase of the investigation.
  • November 18, 2002, TCEQ met with the consultant to review sampling locations and parameters.
  • January 23, 2003, the monitor wells were sampled.
  • February 7, 2003, an updated community relations plan (CRP) was prepared for the Phipps Plating site.
  • March 15, 2003, TCEQ completed data validation and a data usability study this month for the January sampling event. It was determined that the lead in soils on the adjacent property have not been fully delineated. The contractor took additional samples on March 31, 2003, to better define the area of soil to be removed.
  • April 15, 2003, TCEQ’s contractor reviewed the additional samples taken on March 31 and delineated the area for soil removal.
  • June 15, 2003, groundwater monitoring was completed the week of June 9, 2003, and additional soil and groundwater delineation was completed the week of June 16. A technical memorandum for the fifth phase was initiated by TCEQ’s contractor and work began on planning the removal of off-site soils impacted by lead.
  • August 11, 2003, the contractor performed the additional groundwater sampling to verify the June results and to delineate the contaminant plume.
  • August 19–22, 2003, lead-contaminated soil was removed from the vacant lot adjacent to the site.
  • November 2003, new monitoring wells were installed and sampling of all new and existing wells was performed at the site.
  • March 2004, TCEQ’s contractor conducted groundwater sampling, mowed the grass on the site and brush from along the fence.
  • April 28, 2004, additional groundwater sampling was completed to confirm that the groundwater contaminants found in the wells around the site are from some upgradient source.
  • August 2004, TCEQ received and approved the final technical memorandum of the remedial investigation activities at the site.
  • October 25, 2004, an affidavit of lien payable to the commission was filed in the Bexar County real property records by the TCEQ. The lien was filed pursuant to the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act, Texas Health and Safety Code §361.194, to recover the state's remediation expenses
  • December 2004, the contractor mowed the site.
  • February 4, 2005, a memo was placed in the file noting that the site has been remediated and no further remedial action is required by Superfund.
  • August 5, 2005, a legal notice was published in the Texas Register (30 TexReg 4499) proposing to delete the site from the state Superfund registry in accordance with 30 TAC Subsection 335.344(c), and inviting public comment on the determination that the site no longer presents an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and safety and the environment and to take no further Superfund action. A public meeting was scheduled September 15, 2005, at the Pershing Elementary School, 600 Sandmeyer Street.
  • November 4, 2005, a legal notice was published in the Texas Register (30 TexReg 7280) officially deleting the Phipps Plating site from the Superfund registry. A deed notice has been filed in the real property records of Bexar County stating that no further remediation of the site is required by the TCEQ as long as the site is not to be used for residential purposes. The site is not appropriate for residential use.

Back to Top