Garland Creosoting

Overview

Garland Creosoting is a 12-acre abandoned wood-treatment facility in Longview, Texas, that operated from 1960 to 1997. It sits on the EPA's National Priorities List, meaning the agency determined it warrants formal investigation and cleanup. Contamination is limited to the shallow water-bearing zone, roughly 7 to 12 feet below the surface, and groundwater flows toward the south-southwest. The nearest homes are about a mile away, and Longview draws its drinking water mainly from surface sources rather than groundwater.

More than 50 contaminants have been identified in groundwater, surface water, soil, and sediment at the site. These include benzene, vinyl chloride, trichloroethene, naphthalene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as benzo[a]pyrene and chrysene, and heavy metals including arsenic and thallium. Groundwater contamination is the most widespread concern. EPA determined these substances pose an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment based on the amounts present and their potential health effects.

EPA completed physical cleanup between 2008 and 2011. Workers excavated contaminated soil and consolidated it into a lined 2-acre containment cell on site. They also installed 11 groundwater recovery wells connected to a treatment plant and removed dense nonaqueous phase liquid, a hazardous concentrated form of creosote, for off-site incineration. Treated groundwater is discharged to an unnamed tributary south of the site. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) took over day-to-day operation and maintenance in 2022 and now monitors groundwater and treatment plant effluent on a monthly and annual basis.

Institutional controls restrict the property to commercial and industrial uses and limit groundwater use from the shallow zone. TCEQ has placed controls on three of five parcels in the area. For the remaining two parcels, EPA and TCEQ are evaluating whether additional restrictions are needed because a dissolved PAH plume may extend beyond the currently controlled area to the west and northwest. A separate remedial investigation that began in August 2022 is currently underway to address this question. The most recent five-year review, completed in August 2024, found the site protective of human health and the environment in the short term but identified additional steps needed for long-term protection. These include further defining the PAH plume extent, improving the interceptor collection trench system, and placing institutional controls on remaining parcels within the technical impracticability zone.

Community members can review the August 2024 Five-Year Review Report online at https://semspub.epa.gov/work/06/100031343.pdf or in person at the Longview Public Library at 222 West Cotton Street, Longview, TX (phone 903-237-1350). Questions about the site can be directed to the EPA Community Involvement Coordinator or the Remedial Project Manager. For state-related questions, contact TCEQ.