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Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: April 15, 2014
April 15, 2014

Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: April 15, 2014

Featured

  1. USACE to complete $1.3 million Half Moon Reef project (Sandra Arnold – DVIDS, 4/7/2014)
    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District is scheduled to complete construction of the $1.3 million Half Moon Reef project April 11 to restore 12 acres of sub-tidal reef and habitat located within the northernmost extent of the Half Moon Reef in Matagorda Bay, Texas – one of the largest restoration projects around the country. The project is the second segment of a larger 60-acre reef restoration project led by The Nature Conservancy to restore one of the largest oyster reefs in the Gulf of Mexico. The project funds will continue to be used to monitor and survey the reef’s progression. According to Mark Dumesnil, associate director of coastal restoration for The Nature Conservancy in Texas, experts anticipate that Half Moon Reef will provide ecosystem benefits within months of completion of the new habitat for oysters and other key marine life. Additional expectations include the reefs serving as a natural barrier to protect the shoreline from storms, decreasing erosion and helping to protect coastal communities from tropical storms.
    www.dvidshub.net
  2. Award-winning Exploration Green project to break ground in Clear Lake (Flori Meeks – Houston Chronicle, 4/8/2014)
    Several park and greenspace projects in the Clear Lake area and Galveston have been singled out for recognition by the Houston-Galveston Area Council. The council, an association of governments in a 13 Gulf Coast-area counties, presents Parks and Natural Areas Awards every year in the areas of policy tools, the planning process, on-the-ground projects over $500,000 and on-the-ground projects under $500,000. The 2013 award winners, announced earlier this year, include the Clear Lake City Water Authority’s Exploration Green project. This effort, recognized in the planning category, calls for transforming the former Clear Lake City Golf Course at 1202 Reseda Drive into a flood detention, conservation and recreation area. The Clear Lake City Water Authority, which owns the golf course property, has developed plans for creating detention ponds on the 200-acre site, along with wetland areas and natural habitats for birds, butterflies and other wildlife. Plans also call for the creation of natural hike-and-bike trails, athletic fields and other recreation areas.
    www.chron.com
  3. Experts Fear Impacts of Oil Cleanup on Texas Gulf Coast (Mose Buchele – StateImpact, 4/11/2014)
    Recovery efforts continue weeks after a barge accident in the Houston Ship Channel dumped tens of thousands of barrels of oil into Galveston Bay. That oil kills wildlife and damages the environment. But some are worried the cleanup itself could also disturb the ecosystem along the Texas Gulf Coast. Nowhere is that threat more apparent than in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Every morning this week, hundreds of workers have gone out to Matagorda Island, a part of that refuge, to try to remove the oil. On a recent tour organized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the response team appeared to work with great care, gingerly scraping thin layers of oil-drenched sand away with shovels, then depositing it into nearby excavators for delivery into larger dump trucks. Over ten tons of sand has been removed so far. The thin barrier island, like the rest of the National Wildlife Refuge, is not meant for people. Now it’s home to ATVs, bobcat excavators, dump trucks, helicopters, and hundreds of response personnel. They – and the oil – all arrived right as migratory animals are passing through on their annual trip.
    http://stateimpact.npr.org

EcoNotes

  • 14 April
    • Criticism of Water Policy Flows From Conservatives (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 12 April
    • Texas and the IPCC’s report on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability (Bill Dawson – Texas Climate News)
      http://texasclimatenews.org
  • 11 April
    • The air up there: Houston’s air quality is under federal fire (Molly Ryan – Houston Business Journal)
      www.bizjournals.com
    • Last Block Of Artificial Oyster Reef Slides Into Place (Andrew Schneider – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Experts Fear Impacts of Oil Cleanup on Texas Gulf Coast (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • Texas remains wary of regulation after West (Matthew Tresaugue and Dug Begley – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
    • Old Drilling Logs Help Researchers Map Brackish Water (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • EPA defends enforcement plan to focus on biggest polluters (Valerie Volcovici – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
    • El Nino more than 50 percent likely by summer: U.S. weather forecaster (Josephine Mason – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
    • Democratic senators press Obama for Keystone decision by May 31 (Ros Krasny – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
    • U.S. storm team predicts below-average Atlantic hurricane season (Kevin Gray – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
  • 10 April
    • Artificial reef will help restore marine bounty in Matagorda Bay (St. John Barned-Smith and Heather Alexander – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
    • This is What the Oil Spill Looks Like on Matagorda Island (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • Council Requests Emergency Rule Resulting in 11-day Recreational Red Snapper Season for 2014 (Outdoors 360)
      www.outdoors360.com
    • Nelson Byrd Woltz firm creating Memorial Park Master Plan; open house for comment is April 16 (Your Houston News)
      www.yourhoustonnews.com
    • City Hall Farmers Market to Relocate in May (Molly Dunn – Houston Press)
      http://blogs.houstonpress.com
    • ‘Virtual explorers’ invited to the depths of the Gulf of Mexico on NOAA expedition (NOAA News)
      www.noaanews.noaa.gov
  • 9 April
    • Walls: High Island offers plenty for bird watchers (Jerry Walls – The Courier of Montgomery County)
      www.yourhoustonnews.com
    • Grid operator endorses $590M power project for Houston area (Ryan Holeywell – Fuel Fix)
      http://fuelfix.com
    • How the Coast Guard is Managing Oil Spill Volunteers (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • Senior Center Teaches Everything from Organic Gardening to Smartphones (Michael Hagerty – Houston Matters)
      www.houstonmatters.org
    • State weighs draining boats to stem invasives’ drain on ecosystems (Shannon Tompkins – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
    • Data App: Track Texas Reservoir Levels (Ryan Murphy and Kate Galbraith – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org\
    • Volunteers Playing Pivotal Role in Galveston Bay Cleanup (Dave Fehling, KUHF News/StateImpact Texas – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Four Years After BP Spill, Settlement Money Slowly Trickles In (Shawna Reding – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • How the Coast Guard is Managing Oil Spill Volunteers (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
  • 8 April
    • Final rock to be dropped Friday in $5.4M artificial reef project in Gulf (Heather Alexander – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com
    • Award-winning Exploration Green project to break ground in Clear Lake (Flori Meeks – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com
    • Sprawling Houston sees increase in commuter cyclists (Madison Henry – Houston Business Journal)
      www.bizjournals.com
    • What a Ban on Fracking in Denton Could Mean For the Rest of Texas (Alex Dropkin – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
  • 7 April
    • USACE to complete $1.3 million Half Moon Reef project (Sandra Arnold – DVIDS)
      www.dvidshub.net
    • Let’s Talk About ‘The Boom’ (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • Bluebonnets are in full bloom (The Leader)
      www.theleadernews.com
    • Drought now affecting two thirds of Texas (Carrie Taylor – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com
    • Growing concern surrounds low water at North Texas lakes (Sebastian Robertson – KHOU News)
      www.khou.com
    • Timber theft investigation leads to arrest (Sarah Fletcher – KLTV News)
      www.kltv.com
  • 6 April
    • Oil spills in Galveston Bay a routine occurrence (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
    • Scholars warn, educate public on impending county water crisis (Russell Ledbetter – The Courier of Montgomery County)
      www.yourhoustonnews.com
    • Deeper and deeper: Effects of Galveston Bay oil spill linger as clean-up continues (Katie Oxford – CultureMap Houston)
      http://houston.culturemap.com
    • Latest oil incident belies painful truth (Matthew Tresaugue, Houston Chronicle – My SA News)
      www.mysanantonio.com
    • Drought threatens Texas rice farmers’ futures (Matthew Tresaugue, Houston Chronicle – News-Journal)
      www.news-journal.com
  • 4 April
  • 3 April
    • Anadarko to pay more than $5 billion to settle environmental dispute (Jordan Blum – Houston Business Journal)
      www.bizjournals.com
  • 2 April
  • 31 March
    • Houston Ship Channel Oil Slick Shows Up In Corpus Christi (Pat Hernandez – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Feds allow Exxon to restart Texas leg of Pegasus pipeline (Lance Murray – Houston Business Journal)
      www.bizjournals.com
    • Exxon Mobil not backing down from activist shareholders (Jordan Blum – Houston Business Journal)
      www.bizjournals.com
    • Cleaning up crab traps to save animals in the wild (Renee Bumpus – The Official Houston Zoo Blog)
      http://blogs.houstonzoo.org
  • 27 March
  • 26 March
    • Oil Spill Threatens Galveston Bay’s Fishing Industry (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 24 March