Harvey Damage At San Jacinto Waste Pits Shows Bigger Problems For EPA

"The Environmental Protection Agency confirms Harvey damaged a Harris County Superfund site. An environmental law expert helps us understand what it means."

"The Environmental Protection Agency says it has found damage to the San Jacinto River Waste Pits Superfund site following Tropical Storm Harvey.

The agency is ordering the parties responsible for the site to take immediate action to “address damage to the protective cap and high-levels of underlying waste material found at one of the samples on site.”

The site, which holds waste from a former paper mill decades ago, sits just off I-10 in eastern Harris County near Channelview. The site has been known to include the highly toxic chemical pollutant dioxin.

The EPA faced criticism in the days following Harvey for not immediately inspecting Superfund sites on the ground after the storm hit."
 
Michael Hagerty reports for KUHT/ Houston Public Media September 29, 2017.