joint groundwater report - Texas Commission on Environmental ...

due to completed action from this and previous <strong>report</strong>s. For 1997, 6,338 cases are listed by county in Table 1under the division heading "PST.” Of these, there are 6 cases which required notification to local officialsunder §5.236 of the <strong>Texas</strong> Water Code since the previous <strong>report</strong>’s publication. There were 1,308 new casesof <strong>groundwater</strong> contamination identified and added in 1997. A total of 477 cases were deleted from the 1996<strong>report</strong> of which action was completed (activity status 6) on 448 cases. The great majority of the cases involve<strong>groundwater</strong> with documented contamination problems. A small percentage are cases where <strong>groundwater</strong> isimminently threatened.Pollution Cleanup DivisionFederal and State Superfund Program Description. In 1980 the United States Congress passed theComprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known asthe "Superfund" law. The purpose of the federal Superfund legislation was to protect public health and theenvironment from hazardous substances by authorizing federal action in response to releases into theenvironment from abandoned hazardous waste sites. Potentially contaminated sites referred to the PollutionCleanup Division (PCD) by the TNRCC’s district offices, the EPA, local government entities, and individualsare evaluated and ranked according to the degree of hazard presented to the public health and theenvironment. High ranking sites are referred to the EPA for placement on the National Priorities List (NPL).When sites are listed on the NPL, TNRCC staff petitions EPA for federal funds for planning, siteinvestigation, feasibility studies, design work, remediation, and operation and maintenance of the site.The <strong>Texas</strong> State Superfund Program was created in 1985 by amendment to the <strong>Texas</strong> Solid Waste DisposalAct to address those sites not eligible for funding under the Federal Superfund Program. The State SuperfundProgram follows the same step-by-step process, from corrective action planning to remediation, as describedfor the federal program. The Act requires that sites placed on the State Superfund Registry first seek fundingfor site cleanup from responsible parties, then federal resources, and lastly state resources.Groundwater monitoring activities occur throughout the Superfund process, from planning throughremediation. Residential and industrial wells near a potential site, in addition to existing or newly installedsite monitoring wells, would typically be sampled to help determine whether a site warrants placement on theNPL. If not, the site would be evaluated for possible inclusion on the <strong>Texas</strong> State Registry of HazardousWaste Sites for remediation under the State Superfund Program. Once placed on either the NPL or stateregistry, the potentially responsible parties (PRPs) are provided the opportunity to enter into an enforceableorder to conduct all aspects of site investigation and remediation. If the PRPs are unwilling to enter into anenforceable order, the state proceeds with this work.A site investigation is conducted to characterize the type and volume of contaminants at a site, the media(such as soil or <strong>groundwater</strong>) contaminated, the lateral and vertical extent of contamination, the risk the siteposes to human health and the environment, and to allow the selection of a remediation technology during thefeasibility study. Groundwater monitoring wells are installed during the site investigation to determine theeffect, if any, a site has had or may have on local <strong>groundwater</strong> resources, and to select alternatives whichcould be used to solve the problems at the site. The remediation technology selected is highly site-specific butmay involve actions to control the source of the contamination and/or to remove contaminants from a<strong>groundwater</strong> bearing zone. If the remedy involves the pumping and treatment of contaminated <strong>groundwater</strong>,additional monitoring wells are generally installed and hydrogeologic data collected during the remediation. Inaddition, after the remediation is complete, <strong>groundwater</strong> monitoring may occur as a part of the operation andmaintenance phase for up to 30 years.43