Fort Worth council approves groundwater restriction for South Freeway site with testing and community conditions

Fort Worth — The Fort Worth City Council voted to support a municipal setting designation, MSD 035A, for a 57.5‑acre property on South Freeway owned by Bear Holdings LLC, attaching a package of testing and transparency requirements after hours of testimony from residents, environmental experts and the developer.

Cody Wittenberg, the city’s environmental services director, opened the public hearing by describing the MSD as a deed restriction that prohibits use of groundwater for drinking and potable purposes and explained that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality oversees the state MSD process. He said city staff had identified arsenic, lead and manganese in shallow groundwater at the site and that the property’s historic use for dumping foundry byproducts had contributed to the contamination.

The developer’s representative, Harrison Smith, told the council Bear Holdings has been conducting additional sampling and site cleanup, saying the company had completed "25 additional samples" and has taken steps to remove debris and deter unauthorized access. Smith also said the developer had offered to donate about 14 acres adjacent to the site…