Poly-Cycle Industries, Inc., Tecula
This Former Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Facility in Cherokee County is in the Remedy Selection Phase.
Site Summary
The Poly-Cycle Industries, Inc., Tecula site (the site) contains 35 acres located at the southeast corner of the FM 2064 and CR 4216 intersection, in Cherokee County, approximately 1.25 miles northeast of Tecula. Poly-Cycle Industries, Inc., Tecula recycled lead from lead-acid batteries and plastic and rubber chips from battery cases in the early 1980s through March 1990. The operation also received contaminated soil from a Poly-Cycle Industries, Inc. operation in Jacksonville.
Improper waste management practices caused arsenic and lead releases at levels posing a risk to human health and the environment on approximately nine acres of the site.
In 1991, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed soil and debris containing lead concentrations above 1% into approximately 2,200 1.7-cubic-yard polypropylene bags (supersacks). The supersacks were stored on-site in two temporary storage buildings. Soil and sediment with less than 1% lead concentration were consolidated and placed in an approximately 1.85-acre section of the site and covered with a top liner and two-foot seeded soil cap.
Superfund Registry and Investigation
The TCEQ proposed the site to the state Superfund registry in July 2003. The TCEQ issued an Agreed Administrative Order (AAO) on December 8, 2004, requiring a respondent group of potentially responsible parties (PRPs) to complete a remedial investigation (RI), which included soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater sampling, on and offsite. The respondents completed and documented the RI in the Affected Property Assessment Report (APAR) in November 2009.
Lead was detected on-site in the surface soil, surface water, and sediment and off-site in surface soil and sediment. There was no contamination detected in groundwater.
The respondents prepared a feasibility study (FS), as required by the AAO, in 2010 to evaluate potential remedial alternatives. The FS was revised in June 2013.
Remediation Activities
The TCEQ evaluated remedial action alternatives developed by the respondents and determined that the combination of alternatives selected by the respondents does not meet the requirements of Texas Health and Safety Code Section 361.193.
The TCEQ completed an independent treatability study and pilot tests to evaluate options for remediation of the supersacks. TCEQ concluded that the supersacks were degrading and could potentially release contaminated soil and debris into the environment. TCEQ decided a removal action is necessary to protect human health and the environment.
The TCEQ plans to remove the supersacks containing lead-contaminated soil and debris from the two on-site temporary storage buildings and transport them to an authorized solid waste disposal facility in Fall 2024. TCEQ published a notice about this removal action in the Texas Register (49 TexReg 7111) on September 6, 2024.