Old ESCO Manufacturing sits in Greenville, Texas, in Hunt County. The property was once used to make electrical transformers and specialty switch gear from the late 1940s until about 1970. That work left behind polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and lead in the soil, and PCBs in groundwater. The EPA added the site to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) on September 3, 2008, and later deleted it after cleanup goals were met.
The EPA ran three separate removal actions to clear contaminated material. The first, from August 2008 through January 2009, pulled PCB-contaminated soil from six nearby residential properties, removed asbestos-containing materials from the on-site building, and put storm water controls in place. The second, from September through December 2009, cleared PCB-contaminated soil from three more residential properties and nearby roadside drainage areas. The third, from May through September 2011, removed PCB-contaminated soil from the main property and demolished the on-site building and its concrete foundation. That work required about 60,000 cubic yards of backfill to restore the site. The EPA also studied sediment and surface water in Horse Creek and the Cowleech Fork of the Sabine River. PCBs showed up in some samples, but the assessment found that bottom-dwelling invertebrate communities were not likely to suffer harmful effects.
The selected cleanup remedy for Operable Unit 01 originally included demolition, excavation, offsite disposal, and other methods. A 2011 amendment changed that remedy to no further action, reflecting that the removal work had already addressed the contamination. Physical construction was finished on September 29, 2011. The Final Close Out Report was signed on May 12, 2014. Human exposure is under control, with no unacceptable exposure pathways identified. Contaminated groundwater migration has been stabilized, and there is no unacceptable discharge to surface water. The EPA will keep monitoring to confirm groundwater stays within the original contamination area.
The sources differ on when the NPL deletion was finalized. One states the site was deleted on September 10, 2012. Another states the deletion was announced on October 10, 2018, as part of a fiscal year 2018 action that removed 22 sites from the list. Community members can view site records at the Walworth Harrison Public Library at 1 Lou Finney Lane in Greenville. They can also contact EPA or Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) staff with questions or concerns.
