City seeks consultant to clean up illegal East Austin dumpsite

Officials with the City of Austin’s Watershed Protection and Development Review department hope to have a contract signed by the end of the year with a consultant for remediation of an illegal dumpsite on city-owned property in East Austin. More than 70 tons of trash and debris have been removed from the 2.3-acre site in the Homewood Heights neighborhood near Ridgeway, and now the city is turning its attention toward dealing with high levels of lead at the site.

 

“The options range from complete removal of all that material to removing some of it then put a cap over it. We’ve been talking to the TCEQ and letting them know where we’re at and asking them what they think would be appropriate,” said Oscar Garza with WPDR.

 

The consultant selected for the job should submit its design plans and specifications in the summer of 2009. The project will have to receive city construction permits and approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which could happen by December of next year. Garza said that would put the contractor on a schedule to actually begin site work in August 2010.

 

The timetable for the project has been affected by studies that show the dumpsite had also affected nearby land that is privately owned. The cleanup will include both the city-owned tract and the adjacent residential lots. Tests have also shown the presence of arsenic and DDT at the site, although city staffers said testing of a nearby spring did not show any contaminants in the water.

 

The city had originally acquired the lot several decades ago as a drainage easement and park. Investigation at the site showed the lot had likely been an illegal dumpsite for several years. “Obviously, some of the stuff had been there for a long, long time,” Garza said. “There were tin cans and rusted metal. There was stuff fairly close to the property line that could have been from nearby residences. It was also easy for people to drive in there…it was easily accessible.”