Exide Frisco Battery Recycling Center

Site Background

The  Exide Frisco Battery Recycling Center is located at 7471 South Fifth Street in Frisco, Collin County, Texas. The site, a secondary lead smelter, was active from 1964 through November 2012. It processed used lead-acid batteries and other lead-bearing materials into several lead products. The process produced a slag, which was processed and disposed of in a Class II landfill on-site. The process also produced battery-case chips, which were disposed of off-site, and waste acid, which was treated through the on-site wastewater-treatment system.

Exide Frisco Shuts Down November 2012

In a letter to the TCEQ dated June 2012, Exide conveyed its intent to cease operations at the facility on November 30, 2012. The cleanup and closure that began in December 2012 are addressed in part by Exide Permit HW-50206 . The first step is decontamination and demolition of the various buildings, infrastructure, and associated equipment. Exide posted plans describing the decontamination and demolition of the site, including dust control and air monitoring, at http://www.exidefriscoclosure.com in December 2012. The TCEQ issued a letter dated February 26, 2013 ,  stating that there was no Agency objection to the plans. Facility decontamination and demolition has commenced and is going as planned by Exide.

City of Frisco Joins Exide in Voluntary Cleanup

In June 2012, Exide entered into an agreement with the City of Frisco to close the Frisco plant and sell certain portions of the land surrounding the waste facility to the city and its development corporations. Under the agreement, Exide would perform any necessary cleanup of the property to be sold and would retain ownership of the remaining property.

Working with the City of Frisco and its development corporations, Exide submitted an application to have  several parcels adjacent to the hazardous waste facility brought into the TCEQ Voluntary Cleanup Program. These parcels are owned by Exide but are not a part of the permitted hazardous waste facility.

In the executed VCP application, the facility and the city’s development corporations have agreed to use cleanup levels for lead that are at least as stringent as standard residential cleanup requirements.

TCEQ 2011 Inspection of Exide Facility

The TCEQ Region 4 Office inspected the site in May and June of 2011. The inspector listed violations in a Notice of Enforcement  to Exide dated September 12, 2011.

An Agreed Order  was approved by the TCEQ Commissioners at the January 30, 2013 agenda meeting. The Order references a response-action work plan (RAWP) dated December 7, 2012. The final work plan was not submitted in conjunction with the closure process but was developed by Exide over the past several months to address a specific set of noncompliance issues regarding the on-site landfill.

Comments were received from EPA on February 5, 2013. A revised plan has been submitted by Exide and approved by a letter dated  March 5, 2013. The revised RAWP is posted at http://www.exidefriscoclosure.com .

Ongoing Activities

On July 10, 2013, Exide submitted to the TCEQ the Affected Property Assessment Report (APAR) for the site of the former operating plant as required by the January 30, 2013 Order. The APAR is currently undergoing agency review. The TCEQ will consider any public comments received during its review of the APAR; however, the agency does not intend to respond to comments individually since Exide has agreed to hold a more formal comment period following its review process. At the conclusion of the TCEQ’s current review, Exide will address any comments raised by TCEQ and will revise the APAR as needed. As set forth in its Community Relations Plan and the Exide Frisco Master Schedule Summary, although not required by rule nor customary with the APAR process, Exide has committed to post the revised APAR for public comment and hold a public meeting.

On February 27, 2013 Exide requested approval to use clay soils from the Lake Parcel Borrow area as liner for the expansion of the existing Class 2 landfill. The plan also includes the use of soils excavated from the landfill expansion to backfill the Lake Parcel area. TCEQ approved the soil re-use on  March 28, 2013.