The Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission announced plans to clean up 11 properties in Corpus Christi that previously had surrounded a scrap recycling facility. In addition to the 11 properties to be cleaned, the TNRCC will be performing tests on 139 other properties to see about contamination levels
Homes surrounding the former Industrial Metals site will be tested to see if lead content in the soil is higher than levels in other parts of the state. Along with investigation, the state agency will clean the sites from lead contamination.
The site was used by a number of scrap metal recycling facilities from 1936 through 1981.
The recycling operations involved removal of lead from auto batteries and copper from industrial transformers. The site had been cleaned by the responsible parties under enforcement action by the Office of the Texas Attorney General after it ceased operation, but review of results of soil samples collected in the community showed lead contamination higher than the health protective levels.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has already cleaned the industrial site of lead and sampled 39 properties near the site. Tests found 11 lots had lead levels in the soil above the state limit but within federal safety limits.