The Beltr谩n family always stocks two to three cases of bottled water in the cluttered garage of their home in Grand Prairie. They鈥檝e used it to drink and cook for 15 years, and they trek to the nearest Walmart to stay fully stocked.
鈥�Nosotros llegamos aqu铆 y el agua estaba salada, s煤per salada. Nosotros compramos garrafones de agua para cocinar,鈥� Santa Barbara Beltr谩n, 72, said in Spanish. 鈥淲e got here and the water was salty, super salty. We buy jugs of water for cooking.鈥�
Her family has lived in Grand Prairie, west of Dallas, for over 30 years. She said it鈥檚 a common belief among her neighbors that Grand Prairie鈥檚 water is not safe to drink because 鈥渃ontamination floods the streets of the neighborhood.鈥�
Beltr谩n said she knew nothing about the Superfund toxic waste site two blocks away. But it鈥檚 possible the talk she鈥檇 heard for years about contaminated water wasn鈥檛 about Grand Prairie鈥檚 drinking water, but referred to a plume of highly polluted groundwater that鈥檚 spread beneath the neighborhood.
The added the Superfund site, once occupied by a company called , to the National Priorities List in 2018. That ranked it as one of 鈥渢he nation鈥檚 most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites.鈥� Tests showed that , a highly toxic chemical used to clean machinery, had contaminated soil at the site, seeped into the groundwater and vaporized into the air from the groundwater plume. That affected about 80 homes in the neighborhood.
The EPA placed Delfasco Forge on the NPL more than three years ago. But EPA documents show that it still lacks data on whether the human health threat is under control and has been unable to mitigate the groundwater contamination.
四虎影院 knocked on more than two dozen doors in the predominantly Latino, low-income neighborhood of Burbank Gardens and conducted extensive interviews with residents. Most knew nothing about the superfund site or the ongoing health threat.
Delfasco Forge, a defense contractor, manufactured military suspension lugs used to attach weapons to aircraft bomb racks on the 1.25-acre site from 1980 to 1998. The company declared bankruptcy in 2008, in part because of liabilities related to the cleanup.
Operators at Delfasco Forge used TCE to clean machinery and then simply drained into the soil. The EPA commissioned a study to assess the environmental impact. EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc., found that 鈥渁 review of building drawings indicate open pits may have been present in the shop building...and that these pits were connected to floor drains鈥�.鈥�
Inhalation exposure to trichloroethylene can lead to respiratory diseases, neurological effects like dizziness, headaches, confusion, depression and cancer. A by the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Environmental Health Institute found a high correlation between indoor air levels of TCE and TCE in the blood of residents living in those homes, according to the EA Engineering report.
Beltr谩n鈥檚 home is tucked away in Burbank Gardens. Like many communities of color, it鈥檚 near a landfill, multiple industrial facilities 鈥� and the Superfund site.
Her family could hear a hammering noise that would come from Delfasco Forge during the day after they first moved in. The noise came from a hammer forge that made the suspension lugs.
Beltr谩n said she heard about the site鈥檚 contamination once 10 years ago, but her knowledge is very limited. Like many undocumented immigrants who fear deportation, she is wary about talking with government officials. She said she鈥檚 never talked directly to anyone from the EPA, even though she鈥檚 concerned about her health and safety.
鈥�Te imaginas la continua contaminaci贸n que hay en la tierra por los qu铆micos de las f谩bricas de all谩 atr谩s, pero como yo no s茅 ingl茅s, lo entiendo poco, no puedo movilizaron,鈥� Beltr谩n said in Spanish. 鈥淐an you imagine the continuous contamination on the soil by chemicals from factories. But since I don't know English, I understand little,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 felt like I couldn鈥檛 mobilize.鈥�
Feeling powerless, Beltr谩n now wonders if the site鈥檚 contamination may be linked to a couple of cancer cases on her block. She wonders, too, whether it may be related to her son鈥檚 illness. Roy, 44, has been diagnosed with lupus.
鈥�Yo lo que s茅 que ha habido mucha gente con c谩ncer por esta calle,鈥� Beltran said in Spanish. 鈥淚 know that there have been many people with cancer on this street.鈥�
A polluted history
Cindy Mendez, Grand Prairie鈥檚 director of public health and environmental quality, said environmental protections were limited after the site closed in the late 1990s.
鈥淧eople really didn't know what the hazards were with a lot of these chemicals that they were using,鈥� she said.
The first detected soil and groundwater contamination at the site in 2002. The agency detected TCE and numerous other toxic chemicals that can vaporize. Responding to the contamination became a top priority for the TCEQ because many residents living in older homes relied on groundwater wells for their drinking water.
Mendez said state environmental agencies tried to remove the chemicals from the soil and groundwater. But technology at the time was not effective.
The EPA stepped in in 2008 and conducted further studies that found extensive contamination by TCE in the soil at the site and in the groundwater migrating beneath the neighborhood. Vapor containing TCE from the soil and groundwater also was detected inside residents鈥� homes.
Chris Villarreal, the EPA鈥檚 Texas section chief for the Superfund and Emergency Management Division, said exposure to contaminants from the site now comes from 鈥渨hat we refer to as vapor intrusion.鈥� Delfasco Forge was, in fact, one of the first two sites in the country added to the National Priorities List for vapor intrusion.
Villareal said TCE levels in the neighborhood exceeded the EPA鈥檚 regional screening thresholds for potential cancer impact.
Studies in 2019 also found that TCE evaporates from the groundwater, enters through the soil, seeks or finds an airway escape and goes into people鈥檚 homes causing indoor air contamination of the residential properties adjacent to the former facility.
The EPA concluded that 81 homes needed vapor systems to clean the air, 鈥� but only 34 homes received those systems in 2014. Funds from the bankruptcy settlement paid for them.
Tests of those systems, also in 2014, produced 鈥渕ixed results鈥� with some samples showing 鈥渓ower and some showing higher concentrations鈥� of TCE in the air, the EA Engineering report said.
鈥淭here's been several outreach attempts. We've had several public meetings in the neighborhood,鈥� Mendez said. 鈥淎ll of our education is ... bilingual and our meetings are done in a bilingual setting.鈥�
George Craig's, 58, wooden frame house is five minutes from the site. He said there is always a 鈥渇unny smell鈥� in and around his home.
鈥淚t's almost like somebody puts on too much perfume and it's really strong when you first smell it,鈥� Craig said.
Craig is one of many neighborhood residents who had a groundwater well on their properties. The city informed him not to use the well water because of the TCE contamination.
鈥淚've been here 20 years and I've never been able to use it,鈥� he said.
Craig said he didn鈥檛 understand the extent of the contamination or what it meant, but he was among the residents who agreed to have vapor systems installed in their homes.
Craig said lightning struck and 鈥渂lew up my stuff in my house鈥� about five years ago 鈥� including the vapor system. Craig said he tried calling the city, but couldn鈥檛 get through. Since then, the vapor system hasn鈥檛 been fixed, and no one has checked in to see if it is working.
James Fannin Middle School is less than a block from the Delfasco Forge site. On any given weekday around 3 p.m., students can be seen outside the school on the football and soccer field framed by the Superfund site.
Schools officials attended the last community meeting held by EPA and Grand Prairie officials for homeowners in 2018.
鈥淥ne of the things that they did tell us during that meeting and have told us since is that our school is in no danger from that contamination site,鈥� public information officer Sam Buchmeyer.
The water contamination from the site is associated with a groundwater plume that鈥檚 migrating the contaminated water northeast from the site, away from the school, EPA officials said.
Robert Molina, 56, said his father, Henry, also refuses to drink faucet water. Molina hadn鈥檛 heard anything about the Superfund site, even though he鈥檚 lived in Grand Prairie his entire life. But he said he assumed something wasn鈥檛 right when he saw the city boarding up one of its oldest wells located near a park and recreation center not far from his home in the neighborhood.
鈥淭hey kind of forgot about this area,鈥� he said of city officials. 鈥淎 lot of us are from low-income families and so we never heard.鈥�
Molina said the possible health risks posed by the Superfund site are among the many examples of communities of color facing disproportionate burdens from pollution. He wants more answers from the city about the potential health impacts.
No environmental justice?
Molina and others in the neighborhood said that the long, drawn out and, so far, incomplete cleanup efforts raise a host of environmental justice issues. Molina said he wants transparent communication 鈥� and for the site to be cleaned faster.
The EPA鈥檚 Villareal said the COVID-19 pandemic has been partially to blame.
鈥淲e've been unable to do our traditional outreach that we generally do for Superfund sites,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut as we go forward and as you know, as things evolve, hopefully we'll be able to get back into the community and do our door-to-door and public meetings.鈥�
The Biden administration recently passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that includes $3.5 billion for Superfund site cleanup nationally. How the money will be allocated among over 1,300 sites on the National Priorities List is not yet clear.
鈥淓PA is working to ensure at least 40% of Superfund work will be conducted to address environmental justice concerns,鈥� Jennah Durant, the spokesperson for EPA Region 6 in Dallas, said in an email. 鈥淣o community deserves to have contamination near where they live, work, pray and go to school.鈥�
A meeting is scheduled for Dec. 6 to discuss a proposed $3.5 million Remedial Action Plan for the Delfasco Forge Superfund site. It鈥檚 open to the public and more details can be found on the
This story is the first in a series produced with the support of as part of a pilot project with Report For America.
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