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Waste Oil Tank Service

No further Superfund environmental response actions are required on this former waste oil collection and transfer facility in Houston, Harris County.

Site Background

The Waste Oil Tank Service site is located at 2010 Hartwick Road in an unincorporated area of Harris County that is enveloped by the city of Houston, and is approximately 0.5 acre in size. A waste oil collection and transfer facility operated at this site from approximately 1974 to 1985. In addition, paint thinner, transformer oil, lubricating oil, diesel fuel, compressor oil, crude slop, mineral spirits, methyl ethyl ketone, trichloroethylene, xylene, naphtha, spent acid solution, antifreeze, hydraulic oil, solvents with organic residues, and miscellaneous other chemicals were handled at the site. The site consisted of four large, upright tanks and one smaller tank in a diked area, two additional horizontal tanks, and more than sixty 55-gallon containers. The diked area and the drums contained contaminated liquid and sludge. Historically, the site accommodated a variety of tanks, tankers, and drums.

Superfund Actions Taken to Date

  • October 16, 1987, a legal notice was published in the Texas Register (12 TexReg 3858) proposing the site to the state Superfund registry, and announcing that a public meeting to receive citizen comments would be held at the Pasadena Convention Center on November 19, 1987.
  • January 22, 1988, a legal notice was published in the Texas Register (13 TexReg 427) listing the site on the state Superfund registry.
  • 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.
  • September 20, 1995, an immediate removal action was initiated by the potentially
    responsible party. A total of 58,476 gallons of oily water, oily water/sludge, rainwater and oil and water was removed from the site. A total of 748 cubic yards of soil, oily sludge and water, concrete and debris was also removed. A total of 65 55-gallon drums were cleaned, crushed and combined with the on-site debris and removed. A previously unreported 2,000-gallon underground storage tank was removed and cleaned and transported to a recycling center along with 67 used automobile tires.
  • April 25, 1996, remedial investigation / feasibility study under way.
  • September 30, 1996, the final report was approved, marking completion of the remedial investigation / feasibility study phase.
  • March 10, 1997, a supplemental removal action of 80 cubic yards of soil was conducted in an attempt to remove the surface soils down to background levels.
  • August 8, 1997, a legal notice was published in the Texas Register (22 TexReg 7418) proposing to delete the site from the state Superfund registry in accordance with 30 TAC §335.344(c), and inviting public comment on the determination that the site no longer presented an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and safety or the environment. No further remedial action planned.
  • October 31, 1997, a legal notice was published in the Texas Register (22 TexReg 10819-10820) officially deleting the Waste Oil Tank Service site from the state Superfund registry in accordance with 30 TAC §335.344(c). No challenges or comments were received to the determination that the site no longer presents an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and safety or the environment. No further remedial action planned. The site is usable for residential development.
  • September 1, 2002, effective date of the name change from Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

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