| Brio Refining, Inc. Superfund site |
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| Geography | |
| City | Friendswood |
| County | Harris County |
| State | Texas |
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| Information | |
| CERCLIS ID | TXD980625453 |
| Contaminants | 1,1,2-trichloroethane 1,2-dichloroethene 1,1-dichloroethane 1,2-dichloroethane 1,1-dichloroethene vinyl chloride phenanthrene fluoranthene bis-(2-chloroethyl) ether |
| Responsible parties |
Brio Site Task Force |
| Progress | |
| Proposed | 15 October 1984 |
| Listed | 31 March 1989 |
| Construction completed |
28 April 2004 |
| Deleted | 28 December 2006 |
| Superfund sites | |
The Brio Superfund site is a former industrial location in Harris County, Texas located at the intersection of Beamer and Dixie Farm Road. It is a federal Superfund site on which the South Bend neighborhood of about 670 homes, an elementary school, and a Little League baseball field had been built. Documents pertaining to the Brio Superfund site are located at the San Jacinto College South Campus Library, which houses Brio Site Repository Documents, EPA Administrative Records, and Dixie Oil Processors Documents.
Contents |
Residents were drinking contaminated water that came from their underground water source. Pulte Homes claimed they were unaware of the problem until 1983, which was after they had built many of the homes, although it has been reported that construction workers complained of health problems while the initial homes were being built. Not long after, residents began reporting health problems. Women in the area had an above average rate of miscarriages and there was an increase in upper respiratory ailments, central nervous system disorders, and birth defects (particularly reproductive and heart problems). Residents moved out, fearing for their health and for that of their children. Former residents have since reported various illnesses which include cancer, vasculitis, and autoimmune disease.
The site, which last operated as Brio Refinery Inc. (until it went bankrupt in 1982), had been home to several chemical companies since 1957. Throughout the years, various chemicals were stored in earthen pits, which were the sources of contamination.
In 1992, the Brio Superfund site was the subject of a $207 million USD court settlement, which was at the time the largest out-of-court settlement for a toxic waste case.
The Brio waste site was placed on a national priority list for cleanup in 1984. Razing of the houses (which sold for $70,000 to $90,000 when the subdivision was being built) began Jan. 2, 1997. Site remediation was originally to be done through an on-site incinerator, but after a significant portion of the incinerator apparatus was built, the plan was scrapped due to community opposition and the fact that many of the pollutants are nonburnable minerals. The South Belt-Ellington Leader,[1] a community newspaper still in publication as of March 2011, was known for publishing details of the Brio Superfund site and being a key opponent to onsite incineration.
The later consensus was that full remediation was infeasible given technological and financial constraints, so the in-place plan is containment with clay slurries and various forms of site monitoring. Today the area is restricted by a surrounding fence with "no trespassing" signs. Some remains of the baseball field can be found in the surrounding wooded areas. As of June 2010, a contaminant leak was reported but deemed nothing to worry about, as the leak is deep underground.