OSWER/OSRTI Washington, DC 20460



## N ATIONAL 

## P RIORITIES 

## L IST 

## (NPL)

***Proposed Site *** September 2011 

### US OIL RECOVERY Pasadena
, Texas Harris County

 **Site Location :**  The US Oil Recovery (USOR) site consists of two separate parcels

, USOR and MCC Recycling (MCC), l ocated at 400 and 200 N. Richey S treet in Pasadena, Harris County, Texas. The USOR parcel contains a centralized wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) that receives and treats oily waste, sludge and organic chemical

- bearing wastes . T he MCC parcel contains an industrial wastewater treatment p l ant that is connected to the USOR property via a six

- inch diameter pipeline. The pipeline transferred waste oils from the USOR parcel to the MCC parcel for treatment. The USOR parcel is approximately

12.2 acres and the MCC parcel is approximately 4.70 acre s in size

.

 **Site History:** The site is an inactive used oil processor and wastewater treatment property. The USOR waste treatment operations began in 2002 and the wastewater treatment operations began in 2009 when MC C became a subsidiary of USOR. As part of the operations at the site, USOR processed non

- hazardous landfill leachate, contaminated storm water, wastewater generated

from industrial and non

- industrial interceptor traps, Class I and Class II industr i al waste, characteristically hazardous waste, used oil and oily sludges and municipal solid waste. Once accepted, the wastes were treated by de

- watering via reclamation of recyclable materials through neutralization of acidic or caustic characteristics and/or by removal of solid materials in t he

waste through scree n ing, clarific ation and biological activity. After treatment by USOR, the effluent (an oily water mixture) was piped via pipeline to th e industrial wastewater treatment plant (MCC ) located approximately 0.25 mile to the southeast

of the waste treatment operations for further treatment and eventual discharge to the City of Pasadena wastewater treatment plant.

 **Site Contamination/Contaminants:**

Wastes are still o nsite. They include a variety of volatile organics, metals and mercury. Arsenic, barium, cob alt, manganese, mercury, silver and vanadium were present in on

- site sources, along the overland flow segment and within the sediments of Vince Bayou. Other contaminants of concern onsite include acetone , benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, methyl ethyl ketone and naphthalene and bis-2ethyl- hexyl phthalate.

 **Potential Impacts on Surrounding Community/Environment :**  Observed releases of arsenic

, barium, cob alt, manganese, mercury, silver and vanadium has been documented in both

surface water and sedime nt within Vince Bayou. This contamination threatens a fishery and wetlands.

 **Response Activities (to date):** Since July 2, 2010, EPA has responded to three incidents at the site during significant rain events. Response actions to date

have consisted of si te stabilization

.

 **Need for NPL Listing:**

The S tate of Texas referred th e site to EPA for NPL listing and potential remedial activities. O nsite waste streams are in

direct contact with the b ayou during extreme rain events. Fishing for human consumption has been observed in Vince Bayou at the bridge near the site. Other federal and state cleanup programs were evaluated but are not viable at this time.

[The description of the site (release) is based on information available at the time the site was evaluated with the HRS. The description may change as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination.]

For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs ca n be found on t he Internet

at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1

- 888

- 42

- ATSDR or 1

- 888

- 422

- 8737.