The purpose of the meeting is to obtain public input and information concerning proposal of the facility to the state registry of Superfund sites and proposal of non-residential land use.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ or commission) is required under Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act, Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 361, as amended (the Act), to annually publish a state registry that identifies facilities that may constitute an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and safety or the environment due to a release or threatened release of hazardous substances into the environment. The most recent registry listing of these facilities was published in the September 19, 2003 issue of the Texas Register (28 TexReg 8175).

In accordance with the Act, §361.184(a), the commission must publish a notice of intent to list a facility on the state registry of state Superfund sites in the Texas Register and in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the facility is located. With this publication, the commission hereby gives notice of a facility that the executive director has determined eligible for listing, and which the executive director proposes to list on the state registry. By this publication, the commission also gives notice in accordance with the Act, §361.1855, that it proposes a land use other than residential as appropriate for the facility identified in this notice. The commission proposes a commercial/industrial land use designation. Determination of appropriate land use may impact the remedial investigation and remedial action for the site. The TCEQ is proposing a land use designation of commercial/industrial based on the existing land use of the property, as is prescribed in Texas Risk Reduction Program, 30 TAC §350.53, Land Use Classification.

This publication also specifies the general nature of the potential endangerment to public health and safety or the environment as determined by information currently available to the executive director. This notice of intent to list this facility was also published on January 23, 2004, in the Corpus Christi Caller Times.

The facility proposed for listing is the Industrial Road/Industrial Metals Site, located at 3000 Agnes, Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas. The geographic coordinates of the site are 27 degrees 47 minutes 13 seconds North, 97 degrees 25 minutes 28 seconds West. The description of the site is based on information available at the time the site was evaluated with the Hazard Ranking System (HRS). The HRS is the principal screening guide used by the commission to evaluate potential, relative risk to public health and the environment from releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances. The site description may change as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination.

The Industrial Road/Industrial Metals Site consists of approximately eight acres of land located at 3000 Agnes Street, approximately 0.3 miles west of North Port Avenue in Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas. The northern portion of the site has been referred to as the Industrial Road tract and the southern portion as the Industrial Metals tract.

From 1937 to approximately 1980, the site was operated by various business entities including: General Export Iron and Metal; Metals, Inc.; Gulf Metals Industries, Inc.; Anglo Iron and Metal Company; Industrial Metal Trading Company; and Industrial Salvage Company. Operations at the site included the salvaging of scrap metal and electrical transformers and the cracking or shredding, acid neutralization, and salvaging of lead batteries.

From approximately 1981, various county, state, and federal government agencies have conducted, or required the owners to conduct, a number of inspections and sampling investigations resulting in the discovery of high concentrations of lead and Polychorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) on the site. The site was referred to the Texas Office of the Attorney General for an enforcement action in 1981.

Under the oversight of the Texas Office of the Attorney General and the TCEQ (including predecessor agencies), on-site corrective actions were undertaken by certain parties including: removal of soils contaminated with lead and PCB above action levels, backfilling portions of the site and construction of a plastic and concrete cap on the Industrial Metals tract; and a clay cap on the Industrial Road tract. These actions were completed by September 1990.

In 1991 and 1999, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) collected soil samples from the neighborhood in the vicinity of the site. In November 2000, EPA notified the TCEQ that further response action would be the responsibility of TCEQ. In 2002 and 2003, the TCEQ removed contaminated soils from residential yards near the site.

The site was evaluated to be eligible for the state registry by the HRS based on soil exposure pathway. Because the site is eligible for listing on the state registry, a remedial investigation and feasibility study will be conducted to further evaluate the groundwater, surface water, and air exposure pathways which were not evaluated for the HRS.

A public meeting will be held February 26, 2004, at 7:00 p.m. at the Miller High School Cafetorium, 1 Battlin' Buc Boulevard, Corpus Christi, Texas. The purpose of this meeting is to obtain additional information regarding the site relative to its eligibility for listing on the state registry, identify additional potentially responsible parties, and obtain public input and information regarding the appropriate use of land on which the facility is located. The public meeting will be legislative in nature and not a contested case hearing under the Texas Administrative Procedure Act, Texas Government Code, Chapter 2001.

All persons desiring to make comments may do so prior to or at the public meeting. All comments submitted prior to the public meeting must be received by 5:00 p.m., February 26, 2004, and should be sent in writing to Mr. Jeffrey E. Patterson, Project Manager, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Remediation Division, MC 143, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, Texas 78711-3087 or facsimile (512) 239-2450. The public comment period for this action will end at the close of the public meeting on February 26, 2004.

A portion of the record for this site, including documents pertinent to the executive director's determination of eligibility, is available for review at the Corpus Christi Central Library, 805 Comanche, (361) 880-7000, during regular business hours. Copies of the complete public record file may be obtained during regular business hours at the commission's Records Management Center, Records Customer Service, Building E, First Floor, 12100 Park 35 Circle, Austin, Texas, (800) 633- 9363 or (512) 239-2920. Photocopying of file information is subject to payment of a fee. Parking for persons with disabilities is available on the east side of Building D, convenient to access ramps that are between Buildings D and E.

Information is also available regarding the state Superfund program on the TCEQ Web site located at www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/permitting/remed/superfund/index.html.

Persons with disabilities who have special communication or other accommodation needs who are planning to attend the meeting should contact the agency at (800) 633-9363 or (512) 239-2463. Requests should be made as far in advance as possible.

For further information about this site or the public meeting, please call Mr. John Flores, TCEQ Community Relations, at (800) 633-9363, extension 5674.

TRD-200400199

Paul C. Sarahan

Director, Litigation Division

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

Filed: January 13, 2004