The Cleve Reber site covers 25 acres in Sorrento, Louisiana. It started as a borrow pit dug during highway and bridge construction, then was leased in 1970 to the Environmental Controls Company (ECCO) to run as a landfill. ECCO accepted municipal waste and industrial waste from chemical plants in nearby Ascension Parish. A Louisiana court found those operations violated state sanitary code, and ECCO abandoned the site in 1974, leaving behind contaminated soil and groundwater.
EPA identified contaminants across soil, groundwater, sludge, solid waste, sediment, and surface water. Those contaminants include chlorinated compounds such as 1,1,1-trichloroethane, 1,1-dichloroethane, hexachlorobenzene, hexachloroethane, and hexachloro-1,3-butadiene. The site also contains benzene, toluene, chlorobenzene, phenol, aniline, pentachlorophenol, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons including benzo(b)fluoranthene and dibenzo(a,h)anthracene, among others.
Cleanup work included draining and backfilling ponds, excavating and capping the landfill, installing an elevated flood berm, and fencing the property. A 1983 removal action took out more than 1,100 drums and numerous waste piles, then placed a temporary clay cap. The final remedy, selected in March 1987, called for onsite incineration, excavation, engineered capping, groundwater pumping, monitoring, and solidification and stabilization of excavated material. Remedial action ran from April 1992 through December 1996. EPA deleted the site from the National Priorities List (NPL) on December 30, 1997, confirming cleanup goals were met. The site achieved sitewide ready for anticipated reuse status in September 2007. Because the site has been capped, it is not available for residential, industrial, or commercial development.
Human exposure across the entire site is currently under control, with no unacceptable exposure pathways. Contaminated groundwater migration is stabilized, and there is no unacceptable discharge to surface water. Groundwater monitoring continues under Operation and Maintenance plans managed by the responsible parties. EPA conducts five-year reviews to confirm the remedy stays effective. The most recent review, completed in July 2023, found the remedy protective in the short term and identified actions needed to keep it protective over the long term. The next review is estimated between July and September 2028. About 155 people live within one mile of the site.
Community members can read the 2023 Five-Year Review Report online or at the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Public Records Center at 602 North Fifth Street in Baton Rouge, reachable at 1-866-896-5337. For questions, residents can contact EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator. Technical questions can go to the Remedial Project Manager.
