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Congress created the federal Superfund program in 1980, just 10 years after President Richard Nixon established the EPA by executive order. Then as now, there was a debate over who wasbetter to deal with polluters. Texas vs. EPA That s a very long-running debate. At the time, there were somestrong proponents who thought Texas s legal system, while itwasn t perfect, could have gotten the job done, said TracyHester, a professor and the University of Houston Law Center andwho in private practice has represented companies involved inSuperfund sites, including the MOTCO site. I think the general consensus that the Superfund programaddressed was what at the time was a very serious political andenvironmental need which was the perception there were a lot ofabandoned sites that the law just didn t have effective mechanismsto address, Hester told StateImpact. In Texas, the MOTCO site offers an insight into how those sitescame to be and why decades later, some still pose a threat. Millions of Gallons of Waste The site began in the 1960 s as a state-permitted disposal forpetrochemical wastes from the nearby refineries. For several years,millions of gallons of toxic waste flowed into seven un-lined pits.In 1968, the stench from the toxic brew was so bad the City of LaMarque shutdown the operation. In the 1970 s, the site changedownership with one participant being a Minnesota Company calledMOTCO which planned to recycle the waste. But the project waseventually abandoned and went bankrupt. And so in 1981, the EPA stepped in to clean up a monumental mess. According to decades-old documents , the EPA in 1982 ranked the MOTCO site as the most hazardousSuperfund site in Texas. What the EPA found sounds bad, even ifyou re not a chemist. From a 1985 report: Treatment of up to 15 million gallons of water is expected to berequired during the cleanup. Under the water, there exists sevenmillion gallons of organic liquids of which five million gallonswill require disposal in accordance with the Toxic SubstancesControl Act (TSCA) due to the presence of (PCBs). Under the organicliquids, approximately 18,000 cubic yards of sludges and tars arepresent. Under the sludges and tars are an estimated 45,000 cubicyards of highly contaminated soil. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Bellows Boots , Rubber Ring Seals Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Rubber Ring Seals.
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