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EPA description and history of Gulfco site
The Gulfco Marine Maintenance (Gulfco) National Priorities List site is a former barge cleaning facility located at 906 Marlin Avenue, Freeport, Brazoria County, Texas. The EPA describes the site as being approximately three miles northeast of the city of Freeport, encompassing 40 acres along the Intracoastal Waterway.
The site is bordered on its north by marshland leading to Oyster Creek, to the south by the Intracoastal Waterway, to the east by the Exxon Mobil Offshore Oil Service, and to the west by the Bridge Harbor Yacht Club residential area. Certain parts of the site are on both sides of Marlin Avenue.
From 1971-1979, the Gulfco facility was used as a barge cleaning and waste disposal facility. Fish Engineering purchased the property in 1979 and maintained barge cleaning operations until 1981. Barges brought to the facility were cleaned of waste oils, caustics, and organic chemicals. The wash waters generated during these operations were reportedly stored in three surface impoundments. These surface impoundments are described in a July 15, 1980, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Site Inspection Report as lined, earthen lagoons with a natural site clay layer. The three impoundments had dimensions ranging from 145-317 feet long by 147-173 feet wide. No depths for the surface impoundments are indicated. In 1982, the impoundments reportedly were closed and covered with a hardwearing surface.
In January 1989, Fish Engineering sold the majority of the former Gulfco property to Hercules Offshore Corporation that conducted barge cleaning and refurbishing operations at the facility until the company declared bankruptcy in May 1998 [4]. Waste wash waters generated during barge cleaning operations were stored in a rented floating barge or in aboveground storage tanks located on the facility.
The barge slips and dry dock area where barges were emptied and repaired had no levees to contain potential contaminant migration. Dust from sandblasting activities reportedly settled on nearby properties and in the Intracoastal Waterway [5]. The Texas Air Control Board issued a Notice of Violation to the company in 1989 for nuisance dust from the facility.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), formerly known as the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), conducted a Site Screening Inspection (SSI) in January 2000 and an Expanded Site Inspection (ESI) sampling event in January 2001. The purpose of these inspections was to assess potential site contaminant sources and evaluate threats to the surface water pathway.
Two waste source areas were identified during these inspections. The first, Source 1, consisted of contaminated soil associated with barge cleaning operations. The second, Source 2, consisted of three surface impoundments (buried/backfilled) north of Marlin Avenue.
Potential contaminants associated with operational activities at Gulfco include fuel oil, oil wastes, gas condensate, fertilizers, phenols, ketones, benzene, cyclohexane, xylene, alcohols, urethane, toluene, chloroethene, naphthalene, tetrachloroethene, chloroform, creosote, 1,1-dichloroethylene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, dichloromethane, cumene, 1,1,2-trichloroethane, trichloroethane, acrylonitrile, ethyl ether, tetrachloromethane, hydrochloric acid, formaldehyde, calcium chloride, and others.
On May 30, 2002, Gulfco was proposed to the NPL, based on evidence that hazardous substances, including semi volatile organic compounds, lead, zinc, and pesticides, have migrated from the facility to the Intracoastal Waterway and may pose a threat to nearby drinking water supplies and downstream sensitive environments.
see also:
EPA Press Release
EPA responds to Gulfco Contamination, and two other Texas sites.EPA adds Gulfco contamination site to Superfund Priorities List.
EPA Gulfco Site History
Get the EPA's background on Gulfco Site HistoryGet EPA description on Gulfco site, with uses from 2004
Gulfco in Freeport, TX
EPA Investigates Gulfco Marine Contamination Site in Freeport, TXMultiple contaminants found at Gulfco Contamination site, Freeport, TX
