The Texas Commission for Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has approved an environmental clean-up project at Laredo Community College South. A patch of contaminated soil in a parking lot of the new campus on U.S. Highway 83 South was recently removed and LCC was awaiting state approval to complete the remediation.
Francisco Martinez, Dean of LCC South, said that the verbal approval from TCEQ’s Scott Settemeyer was delivered to the college on Tuesday, May 25.
“Laredo Community College received a phone call from the state on Tuesday informing us that the results of the analytical testing were positive and that the Commission felt that the clean-up project was successful in removing the contaminated soil. Consequently, the college has received approval to complete this construction project,” said Martinez.
Additionally, the TCEQ approved three monitoring wells that were installed on the nearby grounds to be used for future testing.
“The monitoring wells are a standard process mandated by the state, which provides follow-up testing to validate that contaminated elements in the soil are no longer present,” explained Martinez.
Monitoring these wells will continue for years to come, in the same way that LCC monitors wells on the Fort McIntosh campus that were installed after the old City Shops were removed more than 20 years ago, he said.
“LCC is very familiar with the monitoring process,” Martinez said. “It is something we do to ensure that our environment remains protected years into the future.”
For more information, contact the LCC Marketing and Public Information Office by calling 721-5140.
Office of Marketing and Public Information
West End Washington St.
Laredo, TX 78040-4395
956- 721-5140
Fax 956-721-5443