The Contaminación Collection, or the McAllen Toxic Plume Case, documents the 180 Mexican American families in McAllen, Texas, who were impacted by toxic petroleum hydrocarbon (benzene leakage) contamination in an area of 1.5 million square feet.
The collection consists of original (primary) source material compiled by attorneys Scott McLain and Richard Roth, who represented the McAllen families. Materials include 300+ visual aids, 800+ boxes of plaintiffs and evidence, and 650+ hours of audio-visual testimonies related to the toxic plume recorded from 1991 to 2004.
The collection contains restricted material and is closed for in-person research. Contact BSA @ UTRGV.edu for more information.
The "McAllen Plume" refers to petroleum hydrocarbon contamination of properties in McAllen, Texas. In 1992 land was purchased on 23rd Street to build an adult daycare business. While evaluating and inspecting the land, it was discovered to be contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbon (unleaded gasoline).
The original lawsuit was brought against the bank that provided the loan to purchase the property, and a Coastal Mart, Inc. convenience store and gas station across the street. The bank claimed no knowledge of the contamination. Coastal Mart, Inc. claimed that the contamination was coming from the railroad north of their location and that the Texas Railroad Commission should be held responsible. Samples were taken north of the original sampling location indicating that the area contained higher levels of contamination than the southern area. The two locations, the Northern and Southern Plumes, were linked by a vein of caliche.
The Northern Plume was found to be larger and included over 150 families in the lawsuit, while the Southern Plume was smaller with 40 families participating in the lawsuit. When the bank learned of the Northern Plume, they joined forces with the attorneys for the Northern Plume, believing the contamination resulting in the Southern Plume was directly related. A sample from the Northern Plume condensation exhibited traces of natural gas and benzene. Benzene is particularly important because it gives off vapors that can travel through the soil to the surface. It was determined that this plume was too large to be caused by a leak.
Six wells were tied into a gathering system, and these wells led to a separation facility. However, there was no monitoring from the wells to the separation facility that would have indicated 1) the amount of throughput for the wells, 2) how much should have reached the separation facility, or 3) how much was leaking.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) assumes responsibility for environmental issues. Because there was also gas condensate found in the sampling the Texas Railroad Commission became involved. The Southern Plume lawsuit was tried in court. The plaintiffs, the families residing in the area, won a verdict against Coastal Mart, who then appealed the verdict. The final monetary value is confidential. The Northern Plume lawsuit was settled out of court.
Article from Apr 14, 2000 The Monitor (McAllen, Texas)
The Contaminación Collection also comprises hundreds of large format photographs, maps, and other visual aids used as case exhibits during the court proceedings. There are over 300 foam-core mounted case exhibits and nearly 70 rolled maps and exhibits. The inventory for these materials is currently in process. Digitized exhibits and visual aids are available online via our institutional repository.
Grant Funding: Digitization of the audio-visual materials, including recorded community and expert testimonies, was made possible by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Video recordings of testimonies and depositions are available online via Internet Archive.