ENVIRONMENTAL SITE ASSESSMENT

PHASE I

Freeman Ranch
2101 Freeman Ranch Road
San Marcos, TX 78666

Prepared for:
Dr. Huebner, Geography 4313

Prepared by:
Ryley Wilson

&
Indya Flanagan

April 27, 2015

Table of Contents:
I.
II.

III.
IV.

V.

VI.
VII.

VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.

Site Description and Ownership (p. 3)

a. Location
b. Current Owner
Map Information (p. 3-5)
a. County Name
b. City Map
c. Topo Map Coverage
1. 1:24,000
2. 1:100,000 and 1:250,000
3. Historical Map
4. Sanborn Map
5. Data from 2013 Wimberley Quadrangle Map, 1:24,000
6. Drainage
DOQQ image (see Appendix I, p. 9)
Parcel Description (p. 5-6)
a. Subdivision (plot/plat) and date
b. Lot Number
c. Acreage
d. Parcel Map (see Appendix II, p. 10)
e. Owners
Site Information (p. 6)
a. Current Land Use
b. Water Supply
c. Waste Water Disposal
d. Solid Waste Production and Disposal
e. Air Pollution
Buildings On Site (p. 6-7)
a. Description
b. Date of Construction
Visual Inspection (p. 7)
a. Hazardous Waste
b. Contaminated Soils
c. Contaminated Water
d. Pollution
e. Potential Pollution
Environmental Site Assessment Transaction Screening (p. 7)
Comments (p. 8)
Appendix: I - VII (p. 9-15)
References (p. 16)

I. Site Description and Ownership

A. LocationAddress: 2101 Freeman Ranch Road, San Marcos, TX, 78666 (Freeman
Center 2015)
Verbal Description: Freeman Ranch is a ranch in the hill country of Texas between San Marcos
and Wimberley, 15 minutes from Texas State University. The ranch consists of several buildings
pertaining to ranching, agriculture, and education. Vegetation at the Freeman Ranch consists of
Ash Juniper trees, oaks, and grasslands. Fauna at the Freeman Ranch consists of cattle and
wildlife (Freeman Center 2015).

B. Current Owner: Harold M. Freeman Educational Foundation (Freeman Center

2015).

II. Map Information:

A. County Name: Hays County

See Appendix IV (p. 12) for TX DOT County Road Maps.

B. Freeman Ranch is not included on a city map because it is not inside San Marcos city
limits.
C. Topo Map Coverage: (USGS 2015)

1. 1:24,000: Wimberley Quadrangle

2. 1:100,000: New Braunfels

3. 1:250,000: San Antonio

See Appendix VII (p. 15) for topographic maps.

3. Wimberley Quadrangle, 1964: This historical map covering the Freeman Ranch
shows only 3 buildings existent in 1964. Therefore, some of the buildings on Freeman
Ranch are older, although many new buildings and structures have been installed (USGS
2015).
See Appendix VI for Wimberley Quadrangle, 1964 map.

4. Since the Freeman Ranch is not within city limits, there is no Sanborn Map that covers
the site.

5. Data from the 2013 Wimberley Quadrangle map, 1:24,000: (USGS 2015)

Highest pt. elevation:

860 ft.

Lowest pt. elevation:

840 ft.

Relief:

20 ft.

See Appendix VII (p. 15) for topographic map.

6. Drainage: Sink Creek is the closest stream to Freeman Ranch (USGS 2015). Sink
Creek flows into the San Marcos River at Spring Lake in San Marcos. The San Marcos
River flows into the Guadalupe River near Gonzales, TX. The Guadalupe River enters
the Gulf of Mexico at San Antonio Bay approximately 50 miles northeast of Corpus
Christi, TX (USGS 2015)
See Appendix V for Texas Rivers Map.

III. See Appendix I for DOQQ image of the site (TNRIS 2015).

IV. Parcel Description: Rural Homesite, >5 acres (Hays Central Appraisal District
2015).

A. Subdivision (plot/plat) and date: No subdivision at the Freeman Ranch.

B. Lot Number: A-283. Map ID: R15916 (Hays Central Appraisal District 2015)

C. Acreage: The entire Freeman Ranch consists of 3,380.819 acres (Hays Central
Appraisal District 2015)

D. See Appendix II for parcel map (Hays Central Appraisal District 2015).

E. Owners: (Hays County Clerks Office)

Owners name

Date Purchased

Date Sold

1. Charles H. Poulton

February 22, 1930

April 11, 1960

2. Gene Scrutchin

November 27,
1937

August 13, 1943

3. Thomas Dix

October 31, 1938

May 5, 1941

Present: Harold & Joseph Freeman

Oct. 13, 1943

Not applicable

Apr. 11, 1960

May 5, 1941
V. Site Information:
A. Current Land Use: Texas State University uses the Freeman Ranch for
farming, ranching, game management, educational, and experimental aims. The Freeman
Ranch is used to study sustainable land use and water management (Freeman Center
2015).

B. Water Supply: The water supply for the Freeman Ranch comes from the
Edwards Aquifer in the form of water wells onsite (Freeman Center 2015).

C. Waste Water Disposal: Waste water at the Freeman Ranch is disposed of by a

septic system at the facility.

D. Solid Waste Production and Disposal: The solid waste production and
disposal at the Freeman Ranch is handled by Texas Disposal Systems.

E. Air pollution from site: There is no air pollution at Freeman Ranch.

6

VI.

Building(s) on site.

A. Description: The buildings on our site at Freeman Ranch include a small red
shed with a red water tank, an office used to receive visitors and provide
information, a long storage shed used to house vehicles and larger ranch
equipment, a barn containing stalls to house livestock (no livestock were
observed), a shed containing a tractor and other tools haphazardly arranged,
and a medium sized structure with closed doors.
B. Date of Construction: Some of the buildings on Freeman Ranch were
constructed over 100 years ago. Therefore, ceiling tiles, floor tiles, and wall
boards probably contain asbestos. Additionally, the presence of lead paint on the
site is probable. Some of the buildings have lead-based solder along the pipes.
However, since the pipes are insulated by heavy limestone, the lead-based solder
in the pipes is not a cause for alarm.

VII. Visual Inspection

A. No evidence of hazardous waste, but we observed a large dumpster from
Texas Disposal Systems and several tanks. Many of the tanks specified water
only but some above ground tanks were unlabeled. The only questionable
object we found was a small container under a tractor to collect oil.

B. No evidence of contaminated soils.

C. No evidence of contaminated water.

D. Since most of the buildings on the Freeman Ranch are over 100 years old, we
expect the use of lead paint and asbestos in the buildings. However, these
should not be cause for alarm as long as the buildings remain undisturbed. The
presence of lead soldering in the underground pipes is mitigated by a thick
insulating layer of limestone.

E. No evidence for potential pollution.

VIII. Our responses on the Environmental Site Assessment Transaction Screening

document do not indicate that a full ESA I is required because we found nothing to
indicate pollution or contamination on our visual assessment.
See Appendix III for Environmental Site Assessment Transaction Screening document.
.
IX.
Pollution on this site unlikely. The Freeman Ranch has never been an industrial
site or been close to an industrial site. Our visual inspection led to no suspicions about
pollution. The ranch seemed to be in good order and focused entirely on agricultural
research and education.

X. Appendices I-VII

Appendix I
DOQQ Aerial Photo of the Freeman Ranch
(TNRIS 2015)

Appendix II
Parcel Map of the Freeman Ranch
(Hays Central Appraisal District 2015)

10

Appendix III
Environmental Site Assessment Transaction Screening Document

11

Appendix IV
TX DOT County Road Maps

12

Appendix V
Texas Rivers
(Department of Geography at Texas State University)

13

Appendix VI
Wimberley Quadrangle, 1964
(USGS 2015)

14

Appendix VII
Topographic Maps
1:24,000
1:100,000
1:250,000
(USGS)

15

References
Freeman Center. Texas State University, 2015. Web. 13 Feb. 2015.
http://www.txstate.edu/freemanranch/about.html

Hays Central Appraisal District. Hays County Appraisal District, 2015. Web. 19 Feb.
2015. < http://gis.bisconsultants.com/hayscad/>
Hays County Clerks Office. Hays Government Center, Suite 2008, 712 S. Stagecoach
Trail, San Marcos, Texas 78666
Maps & Data. Texas Natural Resources Information System. Texas Natural Resources
Information System and Texas Water Development Board, 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.
< http://tnris.org/data-download/#/quad/Wimberley>

Texas Department of Transportation. Texas Department of Transportation, 2015. Web. 20

Feb. 2015. <http://www.dot.state.tx.us/apps-cg/grid_search/county_grid_search.htm>
<http://www.dot.state.tx.us/apps-cg/grid_search/_includes/countymapbook/Pages/368.pdf >

USGS: Science for a Changing World. U.S. Geological Survey, 2014. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

16