Resident asks commission to take up Travis County landfill leachate concerns after alleged seep to Walnut Creek watershed

Corbin Graham asked the Environmental Commission on Sept. 17 to prioritize discussion of alleged leachate seepage from a long‑operated landfill into the Walnut Creek watershed and requested the commission provide an open forum to consider remediation options, reporting requirements and timelines.

Graham said he previously raised the matter in July and alleged that the landfill, which he said has been managed by Travis County and overseen at times by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), has a history of compliance problems and that leachate containing “toxic chemicals” had been verified into the Walnut Creek watershed upstream of sensitive public lands. He asserted there were deficiencies in record‑keeping, monitoring and licensed­­‑personnel oversight and said promised remediation actions had repeatedly been delayed or not completed.

Graham asked the commission to take up the issue as soon as possible and to consider options including remediation time frames, reporting and validation, and the potential use of financing tools such as tax increment financing (TIF) to fund cleanup without immediate property‑tax impacts to residents. He said the site has operated for roughly 52 years and described the site’s repeated interactions with regulatory agencies.

Commissioners accepted the public comment and the chair indicated staff would consider adding the matter to a future agenda; no formal action or vote was taken during the meeting.