Gulf Coast Vacuum Services

Overview

Gulf Coast Vacuum Services is a 12.8-acre former vacuum truck and oilfield drilling mud facility near Abbeville, Louisiana. It operated from 1969 to 1984. EPA learned about contamination in 1980 after a citizen complaint and added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in March 1989. The NPL is the federal government's roster of the most contaminated sites in the country. EPA deleted the site from that list in July 2001 after construction of the cleanup was finished.

More than 100 chemicals have been found in soil, sediment, groundwater, and liquid waste at the site. These include volatile organic compounds such as trichloroethene, benzene, and chloroform, as well as metals like arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, and mercury. Pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were also identified. EPA determined these substances pose an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment.

Cleanup was organized into two operable units, which are distinct problem zones tackled separately. For the first unit, workers incinerated and stabilized contaminated pit sludge on site, placed clay covers over remaining material, and set up groundwater monitoring and institutional controls. For the second unit, workers dewatered pits, consolidated materials, and covered them with an impermeable synthetic membrane. Emergency actions between 1990 and 1992 included building a containment levee, pumping and treating wastewater, and fencing the site to stop contaminated liquids from spreading.

About 8 acres are now clean and available for unlimited use. In 1999, site owners transferred access to the Vermilion Parish Police Jury, which uses part of the property for vehicle maintenance. As of December 2024, one on-site business employs 10 people. Physical construction is complete across the entire site, and cleanup goals for current and expected future land uses have been met with land-use restrictions in place. However, there is insufficient data to determine whether human exposure is currently under control or whether contaminated groundwater migration has stabilized. The most recent five-year review, completed in August 2023, found the site protective of human health and the environment in the short term. Three actions are still required for long-term protection: collecting soil and groundwater samples for tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD, a dioxin compound), updating the groundwater monitoring plan to focus on arsenic, barium, and cadmium, and revising the operations and maintenance plan to address leachate collection and disposal.

Community members can read the full five-year review report online or at the Vermilion Parish Library-Abbeville Branch in Abbeville. For media questions, contact the EPA Press Office at (214) 665-2200.