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Environmental News Update 3/1/02 COALITION NOTES River Bottom Festival Coming Up The theme of this year’s River Bottom Festival, sponsored by the San Jacinto Conservation Coalition, is Forests for Clean Water. The event, which will take place all day on Saturday, March 9 at Lake Houston State Park, will focus on the connection between healthy forests and a healthy environment. Many interactive activities are planned for the all-day environmental expo, including kid-fish trips to Peach Creek, live birds of prey, booths, hands-on exhibits, canoe rentals, and food. A night-time canoe marathon, the East Fork/West Fork Challenge, will follow in the wee hours of Sunday morning. For more information, visit http://www.sanjacinto.cc. LLT Vine-Cutting Saturday On Saturday, March 2 at noon, Legacy Land Trust (LLT) will host the grand opening “vine-cutting” ceremonies for the Montgomery County Preserve. This 71-acre preserve conservation easement, completed January 22, is the first conservation easement in the state of Texas to be signed with a county. Montgomery County Commissioner Ed Chance signed for the county to preserve the floodplain area from ever being developed and to turn a portion of the undeveloped land into the county’s first hiking trail. Located west of I-45 off Pruitt Rd. in Spring, just south of The Woodlands, the property is near the confluence of Spring and Panther Creeks, providing a special niche area where the two streams converge. Following lunch at the property, LLT has coordinated numerous naturalist guides who will lead the visitors on tours of the trail and through the preserve. For more information on the Montgomery County Preserve and other LLT projects, go to www.llt.org or call Jennifer Lorenz at 713-524-2100. KPC Workday Next Weekend The Katy Prairie Conservancy's first workday of the year will be held on Saturday, March 9. Participants will learn about KPC’s goals for protecting the Katy Prairie and the importance of this area for wildlife habitat, flood control, open space and recreation, and agricultural and cultural resources. For more details and to reserve your spot, call 713-523-6135 or e-mail aherrera@katyprairie.org. MfCA Releases Calendar and Report The Southeast Houston Chapter of Mothers for Clean Air (MfCA) recently released a 2002 calendar and report featuring photographs taken by students of Raul Yzaguirre School for Success. The calendar, titled Cleaner Communities for Better Health, contains images that portray local air pollution sources such as industrial sites, household products, and cars, along with quotes from the students about each picture. The report to the community, included in the calendar, contains easy-to-understand information about hazardous chemicals in southeast Houston, ozone air pollution, ground contamination, and health research. It also includes steps to follow when one is worried about the air, procedures to carry out in an emergency, a directory or resources that can help solve problems identified in the report, and a list of ongoing projects. The report can be downloaded from http://www.mothersforcleanair.org/about/ch-southeast_houston.html. LOCAL How Bad is Houston’s Smog? In the last three years, Houston area residents have been exposed to ozone smog more often and at higher concentrations than residents of any other area of the United States, according to How Bad is Houston’s Smog?, a new report from the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention (GHASP). Between 1999 and 2001, Houston experienced 128 days that violated the national one-hour ozone standard, while Los Angeles had 117. While strong action by state and local regulatory agencies reduced LA’s 3-year totals from 417 between 1989 and 1991 to 117 between 1999 and 2001, Houston’s totals have remained relatively stagnant. The full report is available at http://www.ghasp.org/news.html. Rally Against the Rail set for Saturday A rally against the proposed San Jacinto Rail Line is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, March 2 at Sylvan Rodriguez Park, Clear Lake City Boulevard. The event will bring together residents of all the communities that will be affected by the rail line and will alert residents to the fact that the period for public comments has been extended to March 14. The rally is being sponsored by the Northfork and Bay Pointe community associations and is open to the public. For more information, contact Annette Dwyer at (281) 701-3909. STATE Environmentalists Speak Out against South Padre Drilling The Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club is speaking out against an energy company’s plans to explore and drill for natural gas along the Padre Island National Seashore. The National Park Service has already granted a permit for the gas production project to BNP Petroleum of Corpus Christi, which is set to begin drilling within the next few weeks, according to news reports. Sierra Club is most concerned about disturbance caused by drilling at the wellhead and the possibility of heavy truck traffic on the beach. For more information on the campaign, contact Fred Richardson at 512-477-1729. San Antonio Signs Controversial Water Contract The San Antonio Water System (SAWS) and the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) signed a contract this week that would pipe 43 to 49 billion gallons of water per year from the lower Colorado River to San Antonio for municipal water uses. This project was highlighted in Down the Drain, a report from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), as an example of a wasteful and destructive project recommended in the State Water Plan. Because the Colorado feeds into Matagorda Bay, which needs fresh water to maintain its productivity, the project could have a catastrophic effect on the marine life in the estuary, according to NWF. The project could restrict freshwater inflows to the bay to 87,000 acre-feet during the driest years, which is just 51 percent of the "critical” (subsistence) level the LCRA established for the bay in 1999. The loss of inflows could cripple the coast’s commercial and recreational fishing industry. It also threatens the estuary's wetlands, which are critical to both migratory and resident bird species. For more, read the Down the Drain report at http://www.nwf.org/texaswaterforwildlife/unnecessarywaterprojects.html. NATIONAL Corporations to Pay Less/Taxpayers More for Superfund Clean-Up The Bush administration has announced that it will not reinstate corporate taxes to boost the dwindling funds in the Superfund site clean-up account, which means the majority of the cost of cleanup will be picked up by taxpaying citizens, according to a report in the New York Times. Superfund money is used to clean up sites where the polluter cannot be identified or cannot pay, as well as for emergency cleanups. In 1995, under industry pressure, Congress let the taxes that pay for Superfund projects expire; the coffer has since declined from a high of $3.8 billion in 1996 to a projected $28 million next year. Over roughly the same period, taxpayer funding of Superfund cleanups increased from $250 million (about 21 percent of the overall fund) in 1994 to a projected $700 million next year (more than 50 percent of the fund). http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/24/politics/24SUPE.html GREEN JOBS Executive Director – 1000 Friends of Houston 1000 Friends of Houston is seeking an Executive Director, who will be required to raise his or her own salary. For more information on 1000 Friends visit http://www.livablehouston.org. For details on the job opening, contact David Crossley, Gulf Coast Institute, at crossley@gulfcoastideas.org or 713-523-5757. Administrative Assistant – Texas Bicycle Coalition Education Fund The Administrative Assistant is an integral part of the operation of the Texas Bicycle Coalition Education Fund through a major grant in addition to being involved in the day-to- day operation of this statewide education organization. Versatility and flexibility are required as priorities change frequently. As in many non-profit organizations, each employee is expected to be able to perform many functions and to help out where needed. This position has the primary responsibility to ensure that the office runs efficiently under the supervision of the Education Director and Executive Director. This entails answering telephones, routing calls and taking messages as necessary. Shipping and receiving materials for the field instructors, keeping office supplies on-hand, working with vendors to insure product is available. A high probability exists for this temporary position to change to full-time permanent once confirmation is received that funding for a three-year grant has been approved and the temporary employee has demonstrated the necessary qualifications. For a more detailed job description, contact gayle@biketexas.org. ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION CEC Environmental News Update is a weekly publication by the Citizens' Environmental Coalition, a 501(c)3 dedicated to fostering dialogue, education and collaboration about environmental issues in the Houston-Gulf Coast Region. Visit the CEC online at www.cechouston.org. To subscribe or unsubscribe, or to suggest items for inclusion, send your request via e-mail to Sarah Doss at sarah@cechouston.org. |
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