Cindy Tumiel
Express-News Staff Writer

Tests by the Environmental Protection Agency found elevated levels of asbestos in the soil near an old vermiculite processing plant where the city is building a hike-and-bike trail along the San Antonio River.

Four of 20 samples drawn from the soil near the old Big Tex Grain Co. site showed detectable levels of asbestos, and two of those samples were above levels the EPA considers safe, according to test results released Wednesday.

The city already has told the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality it will remove the contaminated soil from one of the tested areas, which is next to the trail it's building, said David Newman, the city's environmental services manager.

The second site is between two buildings away from the trail, in an area that's not being disturbed by the building project, Newman said.

It is not clear who would be responsible for cleaning up that site, or when it would be addressed.

"We said we were willing to remove the soil that is in that single sampling area next to the bike trail," Newman said.

The city is developing a remediation plan for removing the dirt in a way that doesn't allow contaminants to become airborne, he said. The area to be cleaned is about 100 feet long and 50 feet wide, he said.

EPA agreed to test the soil near the construction project after residents of the nearby King William area complained the city could be disturbing potentially contaminated ground. Airborne asbestos is considered a health hazard that has been linked to lung diseases, including cancer.

Further soil tests are planned at the old processing plant itself, which developer James Lifshutz wants to redevelop into a trendy residential and commercial area.

WR Grace operated the Big Tex plant for decades and shipped 100,000 tons of asbestos-contaminated vermiculite there for processing between 1961 and 1989.

The raw material was superheated and likely turned into filler for potting soil or animal feed.

Federal standards consider asbestos a potential hazard if the soil contains more than .029 percent of the contaminant, said Andrea Morrow, spokeswoman for TCEQ.

One of the tested areas close to the bike trail showed .037 percent asbestos, she said. The second site, next to one of the old WR Grace buildings, had a level of 4.25 percent, she said.