Contaminated San Jacinto River gets $10 million in help

​​​HOUSTON – As part of a long-term effort to assess and mitigate environmental impacts from toxic waste pits along the San Jacinto River near I-10, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Harris County are awarding $10 million to provide new or expanded public recreation and access facilities along the river, plus fund environmental awareness and education efforts.​

The 84th Texas Legislature appropriated $10 million that came as part of a lawsuit settlement to be transferred to the county. The legislative appropriation was “for use along the San Jacinto River and in its watershed to mitigate the effects of environmental contamination and the effects of that contamination on natural resources and the public use of natural resources.”​

In the mid-1960s, waste ponds were impounded next to the lower San Jacinto River to dispose of wastes from a nearby paper mill, including toxic dioxins. Since the 1970s, subsidence, erosion and storms caused the release of contaminants into the river several miles upstream from the San Jacinto Battleground. The waste ponds were designated a federal Superfund site in 2008. The Environmental Protection Agency installed a temporary cap over the ponds in 2011, and evaluation of the extent and impacts of the contamination continues.​