south cavalcade street

SE OF CAVALCADE AND MAURY/BTWN BH&T RR

National Lumber and Creosoting Company constructed and operated a wood preserving facility on the Site from 1910 to 1938, at which time the property was acquired by the Wood Preserving Corporation, a subsidiary of Koppers Company. In 1940, that Corporation became a part of Koppers Company, Inc., now known as Beazer East, Inc., (Beazer) and operated the wood treating facility from 1940-1962. Koppers constructed a coal tar distillation plant in the southeastern portion of the Site, which operated from 1944 to 1962, at which time the property was again sold, and later subdivided. In 1983, the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority investigated the Site for potential use and found evidence of creosote in the subsurface. The Site was referred to the Texas Department of Water Resources (TDWR) for further investigation and, in 1984, recommended to EPA for placement on the National Priorities List (NPL). The Site was added to the final List on June 10, 1986, for further assessment and remedial action. The Site occupies approximately 66 acres of land located approximately three miles north of downtown Houston, Texas, and about one mile southwest of the intersection of Interstate Loop 610 and U.S. Highway 59. The Site is bounded by Cavalcade Street to the north, Collingsworth Street to the south, and the Houston Belt & Terminal Railway Company (HB&T) Passenger Main to the east, and HB&T and Union Pacific Railroad to the west. The Site is situated in what would be considered a light industrial corridor, and is bounded on the west side by a large residential area. The Site is rectangular in shape and is approximately 3,400 feet long in the north-south direction by 900 feet long in the east-west direction. A wood treating plant operated at the Site from 1910 until 1962. Creosote and various metallic salts were used as the wood preservatives. The wood treating process area was located in the southern portion of the Site along Collingsworth Street. Koppers Company, Inc. (Koppers), now known as Beazer, operated the wood treating facility from 1940 until its closure in 1962. A coal tar distillation plant was also operated by Koppers on the southeastern portion of the Site from about 1944 until 1962. The Site is currently occupied by trucking firms, with much of the ground surface (particularly in the southern half of the Site) covered by pavement, buildings, or storage areas. A ground water treatment facility is located at the eastern boundary in the central portion of the Site became inoperative due to a lightning strike in April 2006. Since April 2006, Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (DNAPL) has continued via manual pumping of DNAPL from the collection wells. Two areas of contaminated soil, along the southeastern boundary and in the south portion of the Site, have been capped and are being used for truck parking. The northern contaminated area of the Site was purchased in March 2013 by a commercial entity. Contaminated ground water is found both in the southern area and the northern area of the Site in the shallow zone and intermediate zone aquifers. The shallow zone aquifer is located approximately 5 feet below ground surface on-site and approximately 10 feet below ground surface off-site and is approximately 11 feet thick. The intermediate zone aquifer is at depths below 40-50 feet below ground surface. Below both these zones is clay with a minimum thickness of approximately 40 feet and typically extend to approximately 115 feet below grade.

Hazardous Ranking Score

39 / 100

A score of 28.5 or higher qualifies a site for the Superfund National Priority List.

Regional Contact

Region 6
Phone: (800) 887-6063

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Timeline

Discovery
Site Inspection
Preliminary Assessment
Final Listing On NPL
Removal

Contaminants & Health Effects

      Carcinogen
      Endocrine Disrupter
      Neurotoxic
      Sensitiser
      Reproductive Toxin
      Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic
      VOC
      Mutagen

        Census

        White
        African American
        Asian
        American Indian and Alaska Native
        Native Hawaiian
        Other

        12,805

        People living
        within a 1 mile radius

        $39,827

        Average Income

        4,162

        Occupied homes

        Potentially Responsible Parties

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