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NPL Site Narrative for Gulf State Utilities-North Ryan Street
GULF STATES UTILITIES-NORTH RYAN STREET
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Federal Register Notice: February 13, 1995The Gulf States Utilities (GSU)-North Ryan Street site service yard is located at 303 North Ryan Street, Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. The facility is situated on the east and west sides of North Ryan Street near the intersection of North Ryan Street and River Road. GSU-North Ryan Street consists of the west service yard (west of N. Ryan St.) and the east yard (east of N. Ryan St.) which total approximately 19 acres.
The GSU-North Ryan Street facility has been in operation since 1926. Prior to 1926, the property was occupied by the Lake Charles Gas Company. Coal gasification operations by the gas company resulted in an unknown quantity of coal tar which was deposited in the adjacent wetland area. After the property was purchased in 1926, GSU-North Ryan Street began to utilize the wetland area, then encompassing 6 acres, as a landfill for waste materials associated with the North Ryan Street facility's operation, such as for the disposal of electrical poles and equipment, debris, appliance carcasses and miscellaneous items. According to a former employee, used transformer oils and transformers were routinely dumped into the landfill area. By 1980, the landfill was filled to capacity and covered with shells and soil. In at least one area, the covering has subsided or been breached, and a tar seep covering approximately 64 square feet is present. This area was identified in 1988 during an inspection conducted by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ).
In September 1988, LDEQ issued a compliance order to GSU to conduct remedial activities at the GSU-North Ryan Street site. Studies were conducted by GSU beginning in December 1988 and continuing through October 1990. EPA conducted a site inspection (SI) at the site which included sampling activities during the week of October 1, 1990 and the completion of an SI report in September of 1992. Samples collected during SI field activities from Calcasieu River sediments revealed that contaminants attributable to the GSU-North Ryan Street facility were being released to the Calcasieu River. Specifically, the contaminants of concern to the surface water are polyaromatic hydrocarbons, copper, and lead.
The Calcasieu River, a recreational fishery, is within 60 feet directly north of the GSU-North Ryan Street facility. Lake Charles and Prien Lake are within 15 miles of the site in the Calcasieu surface water system and are also recreational fisheries. Wetland areas contiguous to surface water downstream of the site are abundant. The City of Lake Charles and the City of Westlake operate public ground water drinking water supply wells located within 4 miles of the GSU-North Ryan Street facility. According to EPA's SI sampling conducted in October 1990, public drinking water supply wells located on the GSU-North Ryan Street property and several located on adjacent property are not contaminated. The public drinking water supply wells, both on site and the remainder that are within 4 miles of the site, draw water from the Chicot Aquifer and are screened at depths of 500 feet below land surface and greater. The total estimated user population for the portion of the City of Lake Charles drinking water supply system potentially affected by the site is 56,120 and for the Westlake system is 4,988.
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.