Congressman Cuellar urges site cleanup

Aldo Amato Laredo Morning Times
Published: Today

Federal officials are attempting to get a hazardous material site that has been a concern for years cleaned up by the end of this year.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar issued a statement Wednesday urging a quicker cleanup of the Anzon Smelter site, located in Northwest Laredo off Mines Road. A.I. Divestitures Inc., formerly known as Anzon, maintained the approximately 130-acre site.

The production of antimony, a brittle, silvery-white metalloid, took place at the site from the 1930s to 1999 before the price of antimony dropped significantly.

“This cleanup has taken way too long and there is a concern for the safety of individuals out there,” Cuellar said.

“This slow cleanup makes it hard for business to move in and affects economic growth in the area.”

The facility closed in 2004 and the next year, the Environmental Protection Agency conducted an investigation and identified materials as potentially hazardous waste.

The results of onsite soil sampling in 2011 led A.I. Divestitures to determine if contamination had moved off-site.

The company submitted a sampling and analysis plan for conducting additional off-site soil sampling to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

On-site sampling, conducted by the EPA, showed heavy metals in the waste material to be in excess of regulatory requirements for a land disposal unit, such as a landfill.

It was not immediately clear Thursday the results of the off-site soil sampling.

TCEQ Chairman Bryan Shaw sent Friday an open letter to Jamie Katlana, vice president of A.I. Divestitures, asking for a revised cleanup plan.

In June 2008, the company submitted a plan, but no design was ever presented to get rid of the contaminated mounds of dirt.

The company has until May 21 to submit a new plan and design.

Katlana could not be reached for comment Thursday.

“I wanted this cleaned up yesterday,” Cuellar said.

“The EPA has been a major help in this effort and it’s encouraging to see the TCEQ has set a hard deadline for the owners and look forward to seeing this process move forward.”

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