Bayport on hold pending judge's ruling

The Port of Houston Authority will hold off constructing a new terminal at Bayport while a federal court decides whether to grant opponents an injunction.

At a four-hour hearing on Feb. 28, attorney Jim Blackburn argued that the Bayport permit, granted in February, violates the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Coastal Zone Management Act. Blackburn represents several cities and environmental groups, including the city of Shoreacres and the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention, that are suing the US Army Corps of Engineers.

One major point of contention is the construction of another terminal, permitted in April 2003, in Shoal Point. Plaintiffs charged the Army Corps did not consider the cumulative environmental impacts of constructing both facilities. Blackburn also argued that construction at Shoal Point, which environmental advocates consider a less damaging site, would preempt the need for another terminal at Bayport. But port officials have rejected numerous offers from SSA Marine to invest in the Shoal Point Project, saying it would be illegal to spend bond money, approved for Bayport by voters in 1999, outside of Harris County. The port’s chief executive Tom Kornegay maintains that the market can support both terminals.

Plaintiffs also allege the Army Corps violated NEPA when it failed to consider the impacts of dredging Galveston Bay to accommodate the larger vessels expected to dock at the terminal. They also claim that the projected destruction of wetlands would violate the Clean Water Act.

A decision from District Judge Vanessa Gilmore is expected May 4.

Study predicts likely increase in pollution from I-10 expansion

Opponents of state plans to increase the number of lanes on the Katy Freeway now have a convincing way of arguing that increased air pollution would result from the proposed expansion. Dissatisfied with the state’s environmental assessment, a chapter of Mothers for Clean Air that will be directly affected by the expansion raised money to hire a Rice University engineer to study pollution levels along six miles of I-10 between Beltway 8 and the 610 loop. MfCA’s regional executive director, Jane Laping, said the study estimates there will be a 40 percent increase in particulate matter once the expansion is complete.

“This is very significant because (including Loop 610) increases the area that will be impacted by pollution and also increases the concentrations,” she said.
Laping said the study confirmed the group’s fears about air pollution and raised new concerns. She said the group was surprised by the high levels of pollution at the 610/I10 interchange because pollution from loop traffic was not considered in the state’s model.

“This is particularly troubling because there (are two schools and a daycare center) at that intersection and it’s children, the sick, and the elderly who are affected most by particulate matter,” Laping said.

A growing body of evidence linking traffic-related air pollution to adverse health impacts allows these latest findings to be extrapolated to predict an increase in respiratory and cardiovascular disease for residents living along the I-10 corridor. Texas Children’s Hospital expert Stuart Abramson, MD, identified the likely health impacts of expanding Katy Freeway, including cardio-pulmonary disease, heart attack, and cancer.

Abramson said that even staying indoors does not prevent inhalation of particulate matter, which is often too small to be filtered out by routine air conditioning. But the amount of particulate pollution reaching homes can be reduced. Laping offered some protective advice to Katy Corridor residents, such as planting trees along the freeway side of homes and schools to filter out pollution. She stressed the importance of minimizing the effects on children of diesel particulate matter from school buses by instituting a no-idling policy and purchasing cleaner burning buses.

Report reveals new information about PBDE

The Texas Public Interest Research Group released a report last month detailing the widespread use of a toxic chemical, decabrominated diphenyl ether, more commonly known as deca. Recent studies link the chemical to neurological and reproductive damage and cancer. The chemical is a type of polybrominated diphenyl ether, a toxin that recently attracted national attention when a study at the University of Texas School of Public Health found high levels in the breast milk of all 52 women tested.

TexPIRG is asking the EPA to ban the manufacturing of brominated flame retardants throughout the US. The chemicals are currently banned by the European Union and the state of California.

UT School of Public Heath scientist Arnold Schecter, who conducted the breast-milk study, said he supports a nationwide ban. But he and other researchers stopped short of recommending that nursing mothers stop breastfeeding.

In addition to causing serious health problems on its own, deca has a tendency to break down in sunlight into other PBDEs that are more toxic and more easily absorbed into the body.

Toxic flame retardants are used on a wide range of common household products including furniture, clothing, and electronics. But traces of the chemicals were also found in air and water samples.

Officials vote against light rail line, planned double decking of West Loop cited as one reason

Local elected and transportation officials approved two out of three proposed light rail corridors, leaving one rail line in limbo until at least their next meeting. Although the public voted for 72 additional miles of rail transportation last fall, the regional Transportation Policy Council, comprising local elected and transportation officials, must approve light rail lines for inclusion in the regional transportation plan before Metro can receive federal funds. The lines the officials passed included one running north from downtown to the Bush Intercontinental Airport and one running southeast from downtown, to serve the University of Houston, Texas Southern University, and Hobby Airport. The rejected line was the Uptown-West Loop segment near the Galleria. TPC member Art Storey, executive director of Harris County’s public infrastructure department, said he was concerned that the segment’s proposed alignment would preclude a double decking of the West Loop 610, a corridor where vehicle traffic is expected to worsen. Others, including the chair of the newly established city office of mobility, David Saperstein, raised concerns that at-grade light rail would disturb area traffic. Because the city has not yet appointed council members to the TPC, no Houston council members were present for the vote.
Gulf Coast Growth News

Texas beaches saw fewer sea turtles in 2003

Warm weather and conservation efforts accounted for the lowest number of turtle strandings on Texas beaches in the last decade, according to official reports. In 2003, 228 dead or injured sea turtles washed ashore on Texas beaches—the lowest number since 1993, which saw 197 strandings, according to data from the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network. Forty-one strandings were documented at Galveston last year, less than half the number from the year before. Biologists attributed the declining numbers to such conservation efforts as cleaning up marine trash, which can choke or entangle the turtles, and new regulations requiring turtle excluder devices. A 2000 seasonal ban on shrimping within five miles of the shore was also a factor.

The optimism reflected in the Texas report is unique, however. Other Gulf Coast states saw an increase in strandings over previous years.
Houston Chronicle