Six miles west of downtown Corpus Christi lies an industrial graveyard, a site where waste from the oil boom was buried beneath layers of sand and soil. But the earth has not forgotten. At the Brine Service Company Superfund Site, pollutants like benzene, chromium, and mercury have contaminated the groundwater, seeping into the environment, slowly poisoning everything in their path. What was once a convenient dumping ground for oil giants is now a case study in corporate neglect, an environmental crisis decades in the making. As the EPA fights to remediate the site, the damage to the local ecosystem may already be irreversible.
A History of Neglect
The Brine Service Company, which operated the site during the 1950s and 1960s, used the area to dispose of waste from nearby oil fields and refineries. The company accepted toxic sludge and tank bottoms, disposing of them into open pits. These activities, involving known carcinogens like benzene and toluene, have left behind a dangerous cocktail of contaminants.
Though the pits were filled by 1973 and the site later repurposed for industrial use, including a Goodyear tire shop, the contamination was already deeply entrenched. By the time Koch Pipeline Company inadvertently discovered the extent of the pollution in 1997, hydrocarbons were already leaching into the groundwater, and the soil was visibly stained. Tests confirmed the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), among other hazardous substances.
Health and Environmental Impact
The environmental and public health implications of the contamination are vast and far-reaching. At the core of the issue is the contamination of local groundwater, a crucial resource in the region. Hazardous substances like benzene—a known carcinogen—along with heavy metals such as lead, chromium, and mercury, have poisoned the water supply, posing significant risks to both human health and local ecosystems.. Prolonged exposure to these chemicals can cause an array of health issues, from neurological damage and developmental problems in children to increased risks of cancer and respiratory diseases in adults.
Local wildlife has also been impacted. Benzene, toluene, and other VOCs not only pollute the soil but also evaporate into the air, contaminating nearby habitats and harming local flora and fauna. Tule Lake, located just downstream from the site’s drainage ditches, has been affected by surface water runoff contaminated with chemicals from the site, threatening the delicate ecological balance of the region.
A Slow Response
Despite the grave environmental damage, the response to the contamination was slow. Although the site was proposed for inclusion on the National Priorities List in 2001, it wasn’t until 2009 that significant remedial actions began. Even then, these efforts were largely limited to capping contaminated sediments in a ditch running through the site to prevent further chemical spread. The capping was extended in 2020, but the groundwater contamination remains a persistent threat.
By 2018, after years of environmental assessments and legal wrangling, a Remedial Investigation concluded that the site posed significant risks to both human health and the environment. The report identified contamination in the soil and groundwater, including harmful substances like arsenic, lead, and benzene. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Record of Decision in 2020, outlining a long-term plan for cleanup, but the road ahead remains uncertain as corporate entities continue to challenge their financial responsibility for the cleanup.
The Fight for Accountability
At the heart of the legal battle is the determination of who should bear the cost of the cleanup, which the EPA estimates will run into millions of dollars. The defendants, including Energy Transfer and Goodyear, have been accused of arranging for the disposal of hazardous substances at the site and are now being held accountable for the ensuing environmental disaster. The companies, however, have contested the scope of their liability, leading to protracted legal disputes.
The EPA has already incurred significant costs in addressing the contamination, spending over $568,000 on site assessments, monitoring, and remedial actions. These costs are expected to rise as further cleanup efforts are undertaken to restore the environment and protect public health.
Community Impact and the Way Forward
For the residents of Corpus Christi, the Brine Service Company Superfund Site represents a ticking time bomb. Local communities, already grappling with the impacts of living near heavy industry, are concerned about the long-term health effects of exposure to toxic chemicals. Many fear that the contamination may have already infiltrated local water supplies, despite assurances that the worst contamination is localized.
Economically, the cleanup represents both a burden and an opportunity. While the costs of remediation are steep, the cleanup efforts could generate jobs and stimulate economic activity in a region that has long relied on the petrochemical industry for employment. The hope is that by holding corporations accountable, local governments and federal agencies can set a precedent for environmental justice and corporate responsibility.
However, the road to environmental restoration is long. The legal and technical challenges of cleaning up a site with such extensive contamination are immense. The EPA’s plan, outlined in the Record of Decision, includes soil excavation, groundwater treatment, and ongoing monitoring, but full remediation could take decades. In the meantime, the residents of Corpus Christi will continue to live in the shadow of one of Texas’s most notorious environmental disasters.
For more information about this polluted site, please visit this EPA page.
not that it’s super relevant to this specific story at hand, but I personally can’t write about Corpus Christi without thinking about this iconic RDCWorld1 skit feat the sandy place: