Trustees Settle Natural Resource Damage Claims Arising from Hazardous Substances Releases at Former Pesticide Manufacturer in Brazos County, Texas

08/27/2013
Last edited 09/25/2020
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The former Arkema pesticide manufacturing and formulation facility, shown here in September 2009, is located on the shoreline of Finfeather Lake in Bryan, Brazos County, Texas. Sediments in Finfeather Lake are contaminated with arsenic released from the Arkema facility. Photo credit: Chip Wood, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

On August 27, 2013, the federal and State natural resource trustees settled natural resource damage claims with Arkema, Inc. arising from hazardous substances releases from its former pesticide and agricultural chemicals manufacturing and formulation facility in Bryan, Brazos County, Texas. The settlement is embodied in Consent Decree that was entered by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.

The natural resource trustees involved in this case include:

  • State of Texas, represented by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Texas General Land Office; and,
  • U.S. Department of the Interior, represented by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Until 1994, Arkema and its predecessors manufactured and formulated agricultural pesticides at its Dodge Street facility on the shoreline of Finfeather Lake in Bryan, Texas. Hazardous substances -- including arsenic, metals, herbicides, fungicides and insecticides -- were disposed and released at the facility. These hazardous substances contaminated groundwater, sediments and nearby surface waters in Finfeather Lake and Bryan Municipal Lake. Natural resources -- including groundwater, migratory birds, turtles, amphibians, fish, crayfish and macro-invertebrates -- and natural resources services were injured by these releases.

Under this settlement for natural resource damages in the entered Consent Decree, Arkema, Inc. will:

  • Pay $1,116,946.62 for natural resource restoration activities;
  • Pay $123,883.88 to State of Texas for past assessment costs; and,
  • Pay $159,169.50 to DOI for past assessment costs.

The total monetary value of the settlement is $1.4 million.

As the next step, the trustees will prepare a Restoration Plan proposing natural resource restoration options for restoring the injured natural resources. This Restoration Plan will be made available for public review and comment.

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