Costly cleanup

All Ronnie Lewis wanted to do was put up a billboard.

So he bought a 50-by-100 foot piece of land north of 48th Street on the west side of Andrews Highway, a prime location to call attention to Dos Amigos, the club he used to own.

That was back in 1999. He spent about $4,500.

Nearly 10 years later, his little purchase has turned into a big mess. Lewis said he didn't know it at the time, but the tiny piece of property he bought back then sits on the border of what will soon be a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality superfund site.

The groundwater that flows under the property is loaded with cancer-causing chemicals, and the state is looking for someone to pay. Lewis' name made the list of what the TCEQ calls "potentially responsible parties," or people who own land in or around the site. They could be charged to clean up the land and groundwater that's been poisoned - if the state deems them liable.

TCEQ Team Leader Robert Patton said the cleanup process could cost millions. 

"They haven't figured out that I haven't messed with chemicals," Lewis said. "My background is bricklaying and burritos. I've never seen chromium. I don't know what it is or what it's used for."

Lewis is frustrated by more than three years of back and forth with the TCEQ and is fighting mad that his name is on the "potentially responsible parties list." Lewis is well-known in Odessa for founding the colorful restaurant and bar Dos Amigos that features live entertainment and a menu of local favorites.

He said he's tired of dealing with TCEQ officials who won't agree that he's an innocent landowner - one who only bought the land to erect a sign to tell passersby what group was playing at his club.

According to a citizen handbook on superfund sites passed out at a public meeting Thursday at Odessa College, "superfund" is a nickname for the law that allows the TCEQ and Environmental Protection Agency to take care of polluted sites that release chemicals into the environment.

That same law gives them the power to make anyone responsible for the pollution pay for the cleanup and the investigation to figure out its scope.

After a complaint of greenish-colored well water on the polluted site in question, known as the Process Instrumentation and Electrical facility site at 4817 Andrews Highway, the TCEQ did a series of tests on several wells in the area in 2005. They found high levels of chromium, 1,2 dichlotoethane and tetrachloroethylene in groundwater within a four-mile radius of the site.

Chromium is a known carcinogen, and tetrachloroethylene is listed as a probable carcinogen by the Department of Health and Human Services. DHHS has said 1,2 dichlotoethane is "reasonably expected" to cause cancer, too.

The federal safe drinking water standard for chromium is 100 micrograms per liter.

Wells tested showed chromium levels as high as 2,190 micrograms per liter down to non-detectable levels. In all, seven wells tested around the site showed chromium levels above the safe drinking water level.

Two wells showed pollution above the five-microgram-per-liter safe drinking water level for 1,2 dichlotoethane, including one at 11,810 micrograms per liter. Unsafe tetrachloroethylene levels showed up in one well, at 260 micrograms per liter.

The TCEQ installed well water filters on four wells, but the chemicals still pose a threat to the Trinity Aquifer, a major groundwater system.

Thursday's public hearing was the next step to get the PIE site listed on the TCEQ's list of state superfund areas. This will allow TCEQ to start the cleanup process. But, before they begin that, potentially responsible parties, like Lewis, will be investigated to see if they can be linked to the pollution. If he's labeled as a "responsible party" by the state and an audit shows that he has enough money to pay for cleanup, Lewis could be charged for it.

TCEQ team leader Patton said the state could have the PIE site's responsible parties named within a few months. He said a lot goes into finding out if a landowner is responsible for pollution, including exhaustive searches of library records, deeds, tax records and the like to see who had ownership of the land when the pollution is thought to have taken place.

"We haven't closed any doors at this time," Patton said. "At this stage we're still looking for someone to volunteer to do the cleanup."

According to TCEQ records housed at Ector County Library, the agency has been taking a close look at an old chrome plating shop that was around in the '60s and '70s as a source of pollutants within the PIE site. That was about 10 years before Lewis' baby, Dos Amigos, got its start, and about 30 years prior to him buying the land to put the billboard on.

TCEQ documents list an auto repair shop in the 5000 block of Andrews Highway and several closed gas stations as other potential polluters.

"There's no one on the planet who can link me to chromium," Lewis said.

Debi Smith of Midland-based Sport Environmental Systems, an environmental engineering consulting firm, said if someone purchases property with contamination on it, they can be considered liable for that pollution unless they can come up with an adequate defense. So it's always a good idea for buyers to check out the piece of property they're interested in before taking the plunge.

She said banks now require an investigation to see if there are any environmental liens on properties before they'll issue a loan. If buyers pay cash for their land, like Lewis did, the best way for them to find out if it's located in or around a superfund site is to check the TCEQ and EPA document repository at the Ector County Library. This holds all records on superfund sites in the area.

"The bank is not going to help anyone purchase a piece of property that would probably lose its value," Smith said. "That's why they require that check."

State disclosure laws also require a property seller to inform potential buyers of any history of environmental problems on the land.

Smith said Lewis can also apply for the TCEQ's Innocent Owner/Operator Program. Applicants pay a $1,000 fee and submit documents proving that the contamination on their land came from another source. Lewis would also have to show that he did not contribute to the pollution.

Lewis said TCEQ lawyers have advised him to get his own attorney.

"After a three-year investigation, to have me still listed as a potentially responsible party is absurd," Lewis said. "All of the sudden I'm dealing with this. It's that David and Goliath deal." 

IN THE KNOW

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality found high levels of chromium, 1,2 dichlotoethane and tetrachloroethylene in groundwater after testing wells around what's known as the Process Instrumentation and Electrical facility site. It's located at 4817 Andrews Highway. Here's a look at where those chemicals come from and how they affect health.

>> Chromium is used for making steel and chrome plating. It bonds easily with soil, so it's very easy for the chemical to leech into groundwater. Several studies show that ingesting the chemical can increase one's risk of lung cancer and can sometimes result in birth defects in children.

>> 1,2 dichlotoethane is a manufactured chemical that's used to make a variety of plastic and vinyl products, PVC pipes and automobile parts. If the pollutant gets into soil, it will bond with it and end up in groundwater. It's listed as a "reasonable" carcinogen.

>> Tetrachloroethylene is a manufactured chemical that's widely used in dry cleaning and metal degreasing. It can latch onto soil and end up in the groundwater. Animal tests have shown that the chemical can cause liver and kidney damage. It's listed as a probable carcinogen. 

FOR LANDOWNERS

>> If you own land in or near a superfund site and have been listed as a potentially responsible party, call the TCEQ at 512-239-5891 to find out about the Innocent Owner/Operator Program.