Case Summary: Settlement Reached at State Marine of Port Arthur Superfund Site in Texas

On June 21, 2013, a consent decree for reimbursement of past response costs for cleanup work at the State Marine of Port Arthur Superfund Site was entered in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division. The settlement provides for reimbursement from several parties in excess of $1 million for past response costs.

• Information about the Parties to the Settlement
• Information about the State Marine of Port Arthur Superfund Site
• Pollutants and Environmental Effects
• Contact Information

Information about the Parties to the Settlement 

Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) include the City of Port Arthur, Tx. (as a site owner), and Chester L. Slay, Jr. (as a site owner/operator). Several companies were also identified as PRPs, having done business at the site.

Parties to the settlement agreement for reimbursement of response costs included: American Commercial Barge Line, LLC; E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company; Huntsman Petrochemical Corporation; Kirby Corporation; Kirby Inland Marine, LP; Phillips 66 Company; Port Neches Towing, Inc.; and, Sabine Towing & Transportation Co. Inc. The Consent Decree was entered by the court on June 21, 2013.

Information about the State Marine of Port Arthur Superfund Site

The State Marine of Port Arthur Superfund Site (“SM” or “the Site”) is a former barge-cleaning operation and municipal landfill that occupied a 17-acre industrial tract of land located approximately 4.5 miles east-northeast of the City of Port Arthur on Old Yacht Club Road on Pleasure Islet. In 2001, EPA removed source materials from the site. Removal activities included waste removal, water treatment, oil/water separation, and sludge stabilization and off-site disposal. After completing the removal action, EPA determined that the site did not pose a risk to human health or the environment based on an industrial/commercial future land use scenario. The site owner is currently using the site as an industrial property for metal scrapping activities. EPA deleted the site from the NPL in 2012.

More information is available from the State Marine of Port Arthur Superfund site status summary sheet.

Pollutants and Environmental Effects

Site operations began in 1973 under the names of State Welding and Marine Works and the Golden Triangle Shipyard. Barge-cleaning and repair were the principal operations at the Site. The construction of wastewater impoundments in the northwestern portion of the Site was reported. These impoundments were reportedly unlined, earthen diked areas approximately two (2) acres in size, used to store oil and wastewater from the barge-cleaning operations. Site inspection reports indicated that wastewater from the barge-cleaning was first directed to two above-ground storage tanks and then pumped into the wastewater impoundments.

Some of the oil from the tanks was also diverted to an old ship (on land) that was used as an oil/water separator. Oil from this separator was collected for reuse potentially on the site. The Site itself includes the various locations of the former wastewater impoundments, the tar burn area, a distillation column, and the former location of the Lauren Refining Company (LRC) Tank Farm.

Contact Information

For more information contact:

George Malone
Superfund Branch Manager, Office of Regional Counsel
US Environmental Protection Agency
Region 6
1201 Elm St., Ste. 500
Dallas, TX 75270
​​​​​​​malone.george@epa.gov