Houston Waterway Named To Superfund List

Date: September 5, 2002

Source: News Room

A polluted waterway that flows into the Houston, Texas Ship Channel has been added to the list of federal Superfund hazardous waste sites requiring priority cleanup. Patrick Bayou, surrounded by petrochemical plants, was added to the Superfund National Priorities List this past week. With the new additions, the priorities list now contains 1,238 cleanup sites, the Environmental Protection Agency said. Chemicals in sediment from the bayou and adjacent areas include pesticides, aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, mercury and other metals, according to tests by city and state agencies and the EPA. The bayou includes wetlands that provide habitat for wildlife, waterfowl and migratory birds, and large numbers of fish and shellfish congregate at its confluence with the ship channel. The EPA says fishermen harvest blue crab and catfish along the channel near Patrick Bayou despite state Health Department restriction on eating such seafood because of high levels of dioxin.

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