Court filings state the company has not been in business since 2023. According to court filings, the city received a complaint last August from someone who reported seeing "leaking thick black oil onto the grass, soil, and migrating into nearby storm drains."
The building is located near an HISD maintenance facility. According to court documents, a district employee claimed, "When it rains...oil overflows and flows from their property on HISD's property."
Investigators tested the fluids and said they were coming from two old transformers.
ABC13 spoke with a University of Houston Law Center professor who specializes in environmental issues about the dangers the chemicals found can cause.
"There are lots of concerns. First of all, petroleum, even though we're used to seeing a lot down here in Texas, is a contaminant that kills plants, kills fish, and causes surface contamination. If it gets into water supplies, it can be difficult to get out. And probably most problematically, if it gets in high enough concentrations with vapors that it poses an explosion risk as well," Professor Tracy Hester said.
Prosecutors said a person affiliated with the business claimed they were unaware of the leaks but admitted the transformers were likely the source of the problems. Court documents state he was coordinating cleanup efforts with HISD, but did not fully follow through.
"They're looking at penalties per violation of up to $100,000. So keep in mind. One violation doesn't mean just the entire situation at that facility. It could mean every individual spill of each chemical that should have had a permit," Hester said.
ABC13 also reached out to the person which court documents show worked for the business. He declined to comment on the matter.