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Sunday, July 27, 1997

Contaminated underground water may jeopardize $6 million sale

HOUSTON (AP) - Contaminated underground water at Houston's old Jefferson Davis Hospital site could jeopardize the sale of the property to a Dallas development company.

JPI Texas Development Inc., which has agreed to buy the hospital site from the Harris County Hospital District for nearly $6 million, says the widespread contamination was caused by leaking underground gasoline tanks on an adjacent property owned by the city of Houston.

Art Carpenter, a vice president with JPI, said the contamination is serious, but the company wants to work out an agreement with the city and the hospital district that would allow the sale to go through.

"There's a lot of gasoline out there underground. I think it's safe to say it's a very serious concern," Carpenter said. "But we're not panicking. We're not going to take any definitive action at this time. We are still committed to the deal and to resolving the issue."

The hospital site, just west of downtown, contains an 11-story hospital building closed since 1989, and a six-story administration building abandoned since 1991. The boarded-up buildings have become an eyesore in recent years and have sparked numerous complaints that they are a magnet for vagrants and vandals.

JPI, which plans to build a 550-unit multifamily apartment complex on the site, informed the hospital district's Board of Managers about the contamination on Thursday.

Carpenter said his company's tests show contaminated soil and water throughout more than one-third of the site. He said the contamination is worst near the city's vehicle-maintenance facility, just southeast of the 11-acre hospital site.

Dan Jones, the city's deputy director of public works and engineering, said the city discovered gasoline contamination on its site in 1992, and removed seven underground fuel tanks holding from 200 to 800 gallons each. Since then, he said, the city has spent approximately $200,000 to clean up its site.

"If in fact it did come from our site, we believe it's relatively old," he said. "Our site is tight today and has been since the late '70s."

But as recently as October, the city also found "old" contamination in a city right-of-way on the hospital site and is now trying to determine where it came from and how far it may have spread. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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