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CEC ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS UPDATE 10/10/03 - HOUSTON CEC NOTES AUTHOR JEFFERY SMITH DISCUSSES GMO FOODS Join the CEC in welcoming author and environmentalist Jeffery Smith Thursday, Oct. 16th who will be signing copies of his exposé Seeds of Deception, which documents significant health dangers of genetically modified foods and the intense industry influence and political corruption that allows them on the market. Copies of the book will be avilable. The event will be held at the Houston Environmental Center in the Upper Kirby District Building, 3015 Richmond Ave. at 6 pm. For more information call (713) 524-4232. COALITION NOTES GET TRANSPORTATION NEWS FROM GCI This week, the Gulf Coast Institute kicked off its transportation bulletin. The email includes important facts, information and updates about the state of mobility in Houston. From light rail to freeway construction, the timely report considers quality of life and health impacts related to transportation planning. To subscribe to the daily digest, email issues@gulfcoastideas.org. CELEBRATE FALL AT PUMPKIN PATCH Saturday-Sunday, October 10 - 11, environmentalists will celebrate the season with Pumpkin Patch at the Nature Discovery Center. The event includes carnival games and crafts for kids to learn about ecology, food and lots of pumpkins. The fun will last from 11 am to 4 pm in Russ Pitman Park. The Nature Discovery Center is located at 7112 Newcastle in Bellaire. For more information call Lenora Carlson at 713-906-4935. SIERRA CELEBRATION The annual statewide Sierra Club camping trip will be held this year under the pines at Bastrop State Park. The park offers a variety of hikes, nature tours and campfire entertainment. Co-hosted by the Lone Star chapter and the Austin regional group of the Sierra Club, the celebration begins the evening of Friday, Oct. 17 and continues through Sunday morning with hikes, socials, campfires with music by Bill Oliver and fascinating stories of the natural world. Accommodations include spacious camp sites, rustic dormitories or historic cabins for rent. All food and beverages are provided from dinner Friday evening through breakfast Sunday morning. For complete details, visit the Lone Star Sierra website. To register, contact Jon Brandt at 512-477-1729. TREES FOR HOUSTON BUS TOUR Trees for Houston wants Houstonians to see for themselves what the group is doing to make the city greener and cleaner. On Wednesday, Oct. 15, Trees will host its eighth annual “Tour de Trees” a bus ride around Houston highlighting the group‘s plantings and beautification projects. The tour will depart at 12 pm from the parking lot at 3000 Weslyan and will last until 1:30. Lunch will be provided for $9. For more information, contact Catie at (713) 840-8733. LOCAL Petition asks for Culberson’s resignation Residents of the 7th congressional district this week launched a petition to oust U.S. Representative John Culberson. Leading the effort is Paul Staton a Katy freeway daily commuter who accused Culberson of representing the Texas highway lobby and not the “little guy stuck on the freeway” when it comes to local transportation issues. Staton is a longtime Houston oilman who identifies politically as independent. He said he is just one in a “groundswell” of voters who first bristled when Culberson referred to opponents of the I-10 expansion project as “environmental whackos” on a local talk radio call-in show lastyear. Culberson denied making the remarks even after he repeated them at a town hall meeting weeks later. “
He’s not a bad man and we’re not trying to be malicious, but we’re
his constituents and he needs to treat us better,” Staton said. He called
Culberson a bully and accused him of using intimidation tactics to try to kill
the Metro light rail plan. Culberson defended the law saying Metro tried to “sneak through” 73 miles of rail while asking voters to approve only 22 miles on the ballot. He said he does not oppose rail and supports any transit option that relieves congestion. He pointed to Harris County’s plan to provide a rail line along U.S. 290 as an example of fiscally responsible mobility solutions. “I think the county has a good plan to get commuter rail out to the suburbs where people actually live.” Culberson insisted that the majority of his constituents support expansion of the Katy freeway over transit alternatives. “ I don’t know who (the petitioners) are, but there are people who have legitimate concerns about quality of life, and I have taken care of those, and then there are those who simply don’t want the freeway built and that is not an option.” He said sound walls and detention ponds were added to the I-10 project in response to public concerns about noise and flooding. Staton said in three weeks he plans to collect 1,000 signatures, enough, he hopes, to get the Congressman’s attention. He says he’s using word of mouth and a free web site, http://www.petitiononline.com/texas7/petition.html to advance the cause. “This isn’t militancy, it’s not an attack. It’s just
the only way we could get his attention,” he said. “In the strongest
terms we’re shouting out please listen to us.” Council passes Houston drainage fee in 9-6 vote Houston City Council Wednesday passed a plan proposed by Mayor Lee Brown to fund a 15 year infrastructure project through a two-dollar-per-month drainage fee. Proponents of the plan say it is a flood control measure that was long overdue. Assistant director for the city’s Public Works for Storm Sewer management, David Peters said the damage done by Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 helped build enough support to get the plan funded. “It takes that type of catastrophic event to get peoples’ attention, then you get the (political) support to help the people who need it,” he said. “They’ve needed it for years but I guess their voice just wasn’t loud enough.” Though the city has maintained storm and sewer infrastructure for more than a decade, the project has flailed because of inadequate funding. President of the Bayou Preservation Association, Kevin Shanley called Wednesday’s vote a “momentous step“ toward flood management. He said dedicated funding for the drainage system was preferable to paying out of general taxes, which are susceptible to market forces and the whim of political leaders. “Flooding is too important to fund through capital improvement projects because council politics and priorities change from month to month,” he said. “Setting up the utility as an enterprise fund is the best way to manage long-term infrastructure projects. Shanley said he would like to see the
city change its approach to flood management. Shanley said collected rainwater could be used to water lawns or create detention basins. The new fee will appear on city residents’ monthly water bill. Businesses will pay based on the amount of stormwater runoff they contribute to the drainage system. The six council members who opposed the fee argued Houstonians were being over-taxed. “Today is a dark day for taxpayers, ” Council Member Bruce Tatro
said. Poll
shows Seabrook residents say No to Bayport A Seabrook poll of city residents revealed 80 percent opposed construction of the Bayport container terminal proposed by the Houston Port Authority. Seventy-six percent of respondents said they want Seabrook's city government to fight to stop construction of the terminal with 65 percent agreeing that tax dollars should be used to do so. More than 85 percent said that the port should be built at another location while 15 percent said the facility should not be built at all. The most common reasons given for the anti-Bayport sentiment were air-quality concerns and impacts to coastal wetlands. Those who supported the project said they thought there would be no negative environmental impacts. Seabrook officials said the poll confirmed what they already believed was strong public opposition to the project. City Council members and Mayor Robin Riley have been vocal about environmental concerns resulting from the proposed construction at Bayport. The city joined with the Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association and other groups to file a lawsuit in June against the Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the Port Authority’s permit application. "The study was done to confirm what we had voted on at council and make sure that we weren't just drinking our own bathwater," said Seabrook Mayor Robin Riley. She called the results “scientific.” The city paid $9,800 for the poll, which was conducted by DecisionStat and the University of North Texas in early August.
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 David Gresham at david@cechouston.org. |
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