Hazardous Substance Research Centers/South & Southwest

Site description

The Calcasieu Estuary includes the Calcasieu River and surrounding areas reaching from the saltwater/freshwater barrier to Moss Lake in Calcasieu Parish. In 1999, EPA decided to conduct a federally led Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study to evaluate the sediments in the estuary. This has included the Phase I and II workplans on the estuary, the Baseline Environmental Risk Assessment (BERA) and the Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA).

In April 2003, EPA Region 6 was in Lake Charles, Louisiana, for an informational meeting regarding the remedial investigation and draft report that was being released for public comments. Certain community members of the Calcasieu Estuary Community Task Force felt the community should be provided some means of obtaining technical assistance in understanding the documents presented to them.

Summary of assistance (last provided in 2003)

TOSC staff met with members of the Task Force and a letter of agreement was signed stating that TOSC would assist the community in this document review process. In July 2003, TOSC with the assistance of university experts in contaminated sediments reviewed the remedial investigation report. TOSC provided this technical review to the community members and assisted them in formulating their comments for inclusion during the public comment period.