Quantcast
breaking news

EPA Superfund Site in Hockley County

By: Amanda Salem
Updated: May 1, 2008
watch video
cancersweeps2008-05-01-1209697991.jpg

There is a contamination site just west of the City of Levelland, which is potentially hazardous to local residents.  The area is on State Highway 114.  That site is considered a Superfund Site by the Environmental Protection Agency.  In other words, it is a site where the government has recognized there is hazardous material contaminating the area.


The EPA says it started back in the 1930’s when a company called Motor Fuels had a refinery just off of State Highway 114.  The refinery closed in the 1950’s.  The waste material from that refinery process released chemicals into the groundwater. 


The area affected stretches about one mile east of the site and is about ¾ of a mile wide, and growing.  The EPA installed filtration systems into neighboring homes back in the 1990’s.  About 30 of them are still in use.


The plan is to drill extraction wells to stop the plume in its tracks, to install a water supply pipeline from the City of Levelland out to homes surrounding the site, and then to excavate the site itself. 


The project will take about 18 years to complete and will cost an estimated $11 million.

Comments

Log in to comment on this article

Readers Feel...

hello
Related Content

As storms roll into the South Plains Emergency officials prepare for severe weather. ...

Wall Street may be in for a wild ride today after a sharp retreat for stocks in Japan. US stock futures dropped after the Nikkei index in Tokyo plunged 7.3 percent overnight, its worst one-day a...

A mystery illness has sickened seven people in southeastern Alabama, killing two of them, according to the state Health Department, but it's not clear whether the patients - or their symptoms -...

WASHINGTON -- New census estimates show most of the nation's largest cities have further enhanced their allure -- including several in Texas....

ARGLINGTON, Texas -- Long before the sun came up Thursday, Richard Kent was among the first to ride the Texas SkyScreamer at Six Flags Over Texas....

House Bill 950, by state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, a measure designed to prevent pay discrimination against women, narrowly passed the upper chamber with a vote of 17-14 on...

Texas public universities awarded more than 50,000 bachelor's degrees in spring 2013, an increase of more than 5,000 from 2012, according to preliminary data from the Texas Higher Education...

Gov. Rick Perry hasn't yet said whether he's running for re-election -- but Attorney General Greg Abbott doesn't appear to be waiting for him to make up his mind. Abbott is ...

The Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage says he wants to represent himself at his upcoming trial....

The parents of an 18-month-old and a four-year-old who were sickened from E. coli are satisfied that health officials determined the source of the sickness. However, they're not so happy with to...

 
 
 
 
 
©1998 - 2013 Everythinglubbock.com
Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.
All Rights Reserved