There is big progress at the notorious Lane Plating Superfund site on Bonnie View Road in southern Dallas but also ongoing health concerns for neighbors.
Surface contamination removal is finished but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is still working on a plan to remediate tainted ground water beneath the site.
Some neighbors say the response needs to expand beyond the old plant site.
“This is 100% improvement,” said Lane Plating Community Advisory Chairman Allen McGill as he looked at the site Friday.
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“We certainly are happy with the progress that has been made on site. The EPA did a satisfactory job,” McGill said. “But our concern always has been the health implications to the residents.”
The surface appearance improvement is the result of removing 5,000 gallons of chromium-contaminated liquid waste inside, demolishing the old building, removing 66,000 pounds of asbestos-containing material and 17,000 tons of contaminated soil.
EPA site coordinator Eric Delgado said clean fill soil was then brought in to level the site.
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“The steps that EPA took at the site removed an eminent and substantial endangerment to human health and the environment,” Delgado said. “For all intents and purposes, the most contaminated portion that you would find anywhere in that vicinity is completely clean.”
Lane Plating closed in 2015, leaving behind toxic chemicals that had been stored at the site for almost a century, leaching into the soil and into the water underground.
At times in the past, neighborhood City Council Member Tennell Atkins said residents were scared to drink their city tap water.
“But the water don’t come from the ground. We found that out. So, it’s been a whole lot of misunderstanding,” Atkins said.
With the surface cleanup completed, Delgado said a groundwater remediation plan could be ready for public comments in April 2024 and a final decision in October 2024.
He said the EPA has no indication that contamination has left the Lane Plating site.
“The sample results that we have seen from off-property have not led us the believe that there is any type of migration of site contaminants from the site into the neighborhoods,” Delgado said.
McGill said there have been test results from resident properties in the adjacent neighborhood that do indicate contamination.
“We want to see the results of extensive testing of both the soil if that’s needed, and the groundwater, as long as it takes and as far and wide as it takes in order to assure the residents,” McGill said.
He said residents also want a program to screen people for exposure to contaminates.
The neighborhood city councilman supports that request which could involve the county health department.
“We want to make sure the residents are safe, if they do have a health concern, what is the protocol? How do they get that information out?” Atkins said.
The EPA has spent around $8 million so far on Lane Plating clean up and millions more may be needed for groundwater remediation.
