Baldwin Waste Oil

The Baldwin Waste Oil site is located on County Road 44, approximately 0.1 mile west of its intersection with FM 1889, in Robstown. The property was leased for use as a waste oil processing facility. Contaminants include hydrocarbons, metals, nonvolatile organics. The site was inspected by the Texas Water Commission in November 1986, and found to be abandoned.

• October 16, 1987, a legal notice was published in the Texas Register (12 TexReg 3858-3859) proposing the site to the state Superfund registry and announcing that a public meeting to receive citizen comments would be held at the Nueces County Memorial Agricultural Center in Robstown on November 12, 1987.
• November 1987-July 1992, attempts were made to negotiate funding for the remedial investigation and for removal of contaminated materials from the site.
• January 22, 1988, a legal notice was published in the Texas Register (13 TexReg 427-428) listing the site on the state Superfund registry.
• In July 1992, the EPA conducted a removal action. Waste from the tanks and sludge was removed to an off-site incineration facility. The tanks were cut up and removed off site as scrap metal and a pilot-scale bioremediation cell was constructed in the former tank farm area.
• September 1, 1993, effective date of the creation of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission from the joining of the Texas Water Commission and the Texas Air Control Board and a portion of the Texas Department of Health.
• June 1, 1995, remedial investigation/feasibility study under way.
• March 3, 1999, TNRCC completed baseline risk evaluation report.
• March 22, 1999, remedial investigation completed and approved by TNRCC.
• April 20, 1999, a groundwater presumptive remedy document was completed.
• April 23, 1999, a legal notice was published in the Texas Register (24 TexReg 3245-3246) announcing a public meeting would be held May 25, 1999, at the Nueces County Auditorium in Robstown to present to the community the best choice among cleanup remedies and to receive citizen comments to be considered in the final recommended remedy. [View the legal notice in PDF. (Help with PDF.)]
• May 25, 1999, a public meeting was held at the Nueces County Auditorium in Robstown to receive comments on the cleanup remedy proposal to monitor the groundwater twice yearly for three years and then once yearly to see if natural attenuation was taking place.
• June 8, 1999, good-faith offer request letters were sent to potentially responsible parties which asked them to respond with an offer to fund the groundwater monitoring. Responses were due by August 16, 1999.
• June 29, 1999, TNRCC responded to citizen comments from the May 25, 1999, public meeting.
• February 29, 2000, TNRCC issued an administrative order setting out the final responsibilities of the potentially responsible party to finish the cleanup. The order set cleanup levels, selected the remedy for cleanup, and established rules, responsibilities and enforcement options for remedial design/remedial action under state Superfund process. TNRCC would be responsible for groundwater monitoring after the cleanup was complete.
• March 10, 2000, effective date of a TNRCC administrative order. As of the order date, the soil remediation was complete. In the operation and maintenance phase, the groundwater was to be monitored by TNRCC for the effectiveness of natural attenuation.
• July 3, 2000, the operation and maintenance sampling and analysis plan was approved.
• July 5, 2000, the operation and maintenance quality assurance project plan was approved.
• July 13, 2000, monitoring was under way with the first round of groundwater sampling.
• August 29, 2000, a report was received on results of the first year of natural attenuation of the groundwater to ensure that the concentration of contaminants was being reduced through natural processes.
• July 17, 2001, groundwater was sampled at the monitor wells to track the natural attenuation of contaminants.
• December 20, 2001, groundwater was sampled at the monitor wells to track the natural attenuation of contaminants.
• April 15, 2002, the report was received on results of the second year of natural attenuation of the groundwater to ensure that the concentration of contaminants was being reduced through natural processes.
• July 30, 2002, groundwater was sampled at the monitor wells to track the natural attenuation of contaminants.
• September 1, 2002, effective date of the name change from Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
• January 9-10, 2003, groundwater was sampled at the monitor wells to track the natural attenuation of contaminants. In addition, an oxygen-releasing compound was added to monitor well 9 to attempt to increase the rate of natural attenuation by increasing the amount of oxygen available in the groundwater.
• May 29, 2003, semiannual sampling of groundwater was completed.
• August 19, 2003, TCEQ approved the annual report for the operation and maintenance sampling results.
• January 30, 2004, groundwater was sampled at the monitor wells to track the natural attenuation of contaminants.
• March 2004, TCEQ finished the review and accepted the data usability study of the samples taken in January. Also, TCEQ reviewed and accepted the annual groundwater monitoring report for operations and maintenance at the site.
• May 19, 2004, an updated community relations plan was prepared for the Baldwin Waste Oil site. [View the text of the community relations plan, in PDF. (Help with PDF.) The PDF file does not include illustrations or copies of documents cited. The complete community relations plan is available as part of the official repository record at the Nueces County Public Library and at the TCEQ Records Management Center.]
• January 10-11, 2005, the annual groundwater sampling event and site maintenance was performed.
• March 2005, TCEQ reviewed and accepted the annual operations and maintenance groundwater monitoring report.
• October 25, 2005, the Texas Office of Attorney General entered into an agreed judgment on behalf of the TCEQ with SGS Control Services, Inc., Saybolt, Inc., and Caleb Brett USA, Inc. According to the agreed judgment, SGS Control Services, Inc., Saybolt, Inc., and Caleb Brett USA, Inc. paid the state $60,000 total. The agreed judgment resolves the alleged civil liability of SGS Control Services, Inc., Saybolt, Inc., and Caleb Brett USA, Inc., for cleanup, remediation and response costs associated with the site and contains no admission of liability.
• January 2006, negotiations for settlement are ongoing with the Brownsville Navigation District.
• June 30, 2006, a legal notice was published in the Texas Register (31 TexReg 53785379) by the Office of Attorney General giving notice of a proposed agreed final judgment by the Brownsville Navigation District of Cameron County for its share of costs of remediation of the site and agreement to take over remedial activities at the site.[Read the text of the legal notice in PDF. ( Help with PDF.) The PDF file does not include illustrations or copies of documents cited.]
• August 1, 2006, The Texas Office of the Attorney General entered into an agreed judgment on behalf of the TCEQ with the Brownsville Navigation District. According to the agreed judgment, the Brownsville Navigation District will pay the state $350,000 total over three years and will take over operation and maintenance of the site. The agreed judgment resolves the Brownsville Navigation District's alleged civil liability for response costs associated with the site and contains no admission of liability.
• November 29, 2006, the Baldwin Waste Oil consultant submitted the results of the first semi-annual groundwater monitoring event. Additional groundwater monitoring is required.
• January 30, 2008, the Baldwin Waste Oil consultant submitted a summary groundwater monitoring report indicating that groundwater monitoring needs to continue. The next sampling event will be due in the fall of 2008.
• September 9, 2008: Monitored natural attenuation of the groundwater is ongoing. Semi-annual sampling indicates that despite some fluctuation benzene levels in the plume are decreasing, particularly in response to the addition of oxygen-releasing compounds. The plume is stable and decreasing in size.

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E-mail: superfnd@tceq.state.tx.usif you have any questions.