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HOUMA, La. (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed adding a defunct Houma shipyard site to the Superfund list of the nation's worst hazardous waste sites. That would put the agency in charge of cleaning up three pits where Delta Shipyard stored oily waste and oilfield drilling mud it had washed out of barges and ships.
Brenda Cook, who evaluated the site for the EPA, says investigators also found heavy metals and other contamination in nearby wetlands. She says it had spread from a drainage ditch.
The Houma Courier (http://bit.ly/1ozW9Gn ) reports that cleanup could take years.
Delta Shipyard was part of Delta Industries, which had nearby outfits for fabrication, ship repair, drilling mud, construction and safety. It declared bankruptcy in October 1984. At the time, it was the largest employer in Terrebonne Parish.
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Information from: The Courier, http://www.houmatoday.com
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