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Companies say no contaminates spread from Texas toxic site

WASHINGTON (AP) - The companies responsible for cleaning up a Superfund site outside Houston say a new sampling shows no evidence that highly contaminated sediments washed away during Hurricane Harvey.

The Environmental Protection Agency ordered International Paper and a subsidiary of Waste Management Inc. to conduct more tests after an earlier sample collected from the San Jacinto River Waste Pits following the historic storm showed dioxin levels at more than 2,300 times the level set to trigger a cleanup. Dioxins are extremely hazardous chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt signed a directive earlier this month requiring the companies to underwrite a $115 million cleanup at the former paper mill. The companies claim the contamination at the site is stable and that no more extensive cleanup is needed.

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