Former electrical transformer plant removed from EPA Superfund list

While the EPA still has Superfund sites in Oklahoma, it is removing a site in Greenville, Texas from its list of polluted areas.

The former Esco Manufacturing Plant site is being removed from the Superfund National Priorities List, according to an announcement by the Environmental Protection agency.

A statement issued by the EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality indicated that all appropriate responses financed by the fund have been implemented and that no further cleanup of the location is needed.

“The EPA and TCEQ have determined that the remedial action conducted at the site is protective of public health, welfare and the environment,” the statement said. “This deletion does not preclude future actions under Superfund.”

The remediation of the site began in March, 2011 with the dismantling of the tin and aluminum of the plant building and initial excavation of the soil surrounding the structure. It was then that PCBs or polychlorinated biphenyls were found at the plant location and in the ground. Esco manufactured electrical transformers and related equipment at the location between 1945 and 1991.

The clean-up, which continued for more than six months, cost approximately $7.23 million and reduced the contamination to levels low enough to allow the site to be utilized for residential and recreational uses.