RESIDENTS BATTLE TRASH TRANSFER STATION
by Sarah Morgan

The battle between residents and the operators of a trash transfer station in southwest Houston continues, as residents hold that the location is not suitable to such development, while operators file for arbitration in an effort to extend their lease with the City of Bellaire.

When a few residents in the area first discovered the plans for a trash transfer station at the intersection of Beltway 8 and Ruffino Hills Road, they began a search to uncover the details of the project. What they found was a 24-year-old permit for a type V trash transfer station, and a 1999 lease with the City of Bellaire for 14 acres of land.

The transfer station is designed as a pit stop for trash on its way to the landfill in Fort Bend County. Trash is brought to the station in large trucks and then compressed and reloaded into other trucks bound for the Fort Bend landfill. According to a Sept 16 press release from Waste Services, Inc, Canadian partner to Ruffino Hills Trash Transfer Station LP, the facility is permitted for 850 tons per day.

"As a community activist, I had to bring this to the community because nobody knows about this," said Ruth Hurst, a southwest Houston resident who is co-chair of the Coalition Against Ruffino Trash Transfer Station.

Since the permit for the station was granted in 1980, the surrounding area has grown. Now the site for the project is surrounded by some 1,000 homes and alongside a pre-school, the Oasis of Knowledge, on West Bellfort. There are three other schools, Bell Elementary, Valley West Elementary, and Louie Welch Middle School, located within a two-mile radius of the trash site. Hurst also said that there are about 80 new houses sharing a property line with the site and a subdivision that is less than one block away.

"We do not have anyone that thinks that thing should be built, from the mayor to congressmen," said Hurst. "It's right in the middle of a residential neighborhood. There's nothing commercial here at all."

Other concerns regarding the trash transfer site include the lack of an adequate roadway system, while drainage issues are affecting flood prediction in the community.

"These roadways can't accommodate the trucks," said Elaine Gaskamp, co-chair for Coalition Against Ruffino Trash Transfer Station. Gaskamp said that when the original permit was granted, the section of Beltway 8 nearest the trash site did not exist.

"Those trucks run on diesel," said Gaskamp, who noted that she was also concerned about the cancer-causing carcinogens the trucks emit.

The drainage system in the area is already facing problems from the early stages of construction at the site.

"We're having a lot of flooding," said Gaskamp. "Four inches of rain is giving results of 10 to 12 inches of rain."

The current lease requires that the trash site be substantially operational by the end of the lease period, October 31, or the company will be in default. The default provision then gives Ruffino Hills 60 business days to cure the default by having the transfer station operational, otherwise the lease can be terminated by the City of Bellaire.

But now Ruffino Hills is claiming that the City of Houston delayed their completion by 76 days, and the operators want the City of Bellaire to allow a 76-day extension on their lease. The Bellaire City Council will meet on November 1 to discuss the issue, Bellaire city manager Bernie Satterwhite told the Houston Chronicle this week.

For more information, visit http://www.cartts.com.

HEART SUPPORTS TURTLE SATELLITE TRACKING PROGRAM

Help Endangered Animals-Ridley Turtles is starting a drive to raise funds for a tracking system. HEART member and local marine biologist Erin Seney has begun a program to start tracking area turtles in order to learn more about their behavior, including feeding and migration patterns, as well as nesting and non-nesting season activities. However, satellite tracking devices cost about $2000. HEART plans to raise funds to continue the tracking program by holding an adoption drive. RRV216, or REV, is a juvenile Kemp's Ridley sea turtle caught off a fishing pier on the Bolivar Peninsula in July. After rehabilitation, he was returned to the wild in September. By visiting http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/?tag_id=53223, you can see REV's progress, as well as adopt him and become a sponsor of the tracking program. HEART's goal is to raise enough money to fund another satellite tag. HEART is also trying to get the word out about shrimp fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico who are illegally tying their Turtle Excluder Devices shut in an attempt to catch more shrimp. This practice endangers sea turtles, including the endangered Kemp's Ridley sea turtles; many turtles drown in the shrimpers' nets. HEART is calling for a permanent Kemp's Ridley Marine Reserve. For more information, visit:
http://www.seaturtles.org/actionalertdetails.cfm?actionAlertID=77.

SHELL CENTER FOR SUSTAINABILITY: PARTICULATE MATTER

The Rice University Shell Center for Sustainability is hosting a free seminar, "Houston Air Quality: Particulate Matter - Sources and Composition, Health Impact and Regulatory Response." The event is from 6 to 8 pm, Nov 9 through Nov 11, at Rice University's Duncan Hall in the McMurtrey Auditorium.

For more information, contact (713)348-4700 or visit
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~eesi/scs/.

LARA PLANNING WORKSHOPS FOR THIRD WARD COMMUNITY

The Land Assemblage Redevelopment Authority in conjunction with the City of Houston Planning and Development Department will host an Urban Redevelopment Plan workshop in the Third Ward, one of Houston's oldest African American neighborhoods. The Third Ward planning workshop is from 9 am to 1 pm, Oct 30, at the Judson Robinson Jr. Multi-Service Center, 2020 Herman Drive. The workshops will provide community residents with the feedback and results of previous workshops and provide new attendants with an opportunity to take the Urban Redevelopment Plan Survey. Input gained from these surveys will shape the vision of the future of this historic community.

For more information contact (713) 837-7887 or e-mail ntac@cityofhouston.net.

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