Gulf Coast Institute investigates major transportation plan

Few people know about it but it has the potential to dramatically change the face of Houston. We are talking about the $77 billion Regional Transportation Plan (2025 RTP) that, among its many projects, would pave enough roadways to build a road from San Francisco to South Africa and help generate parking spaces that would cover an area two and a half times the island of Manhattan.

The 2025 RTP is the region’s most comprehensive, long-term transportation plan; it includes all projected road, bus, rail, pedestrian, bicycle, port, and airport improvements. The Gulf Coast Institute is researching the plan and publishing a series of “Transportation Bulletins,” or fact sheets about the plan. They’ve also held several meetings to help generate awareness and educate the public about the RTP.

H-GAC has increased public involvement with the draft plan from one to six public meetings and pushed the deadline on approving the plan back a month. A group of 25 public officials are set to vote on the plan May 28th.

New report says chemical safety measures don’t work

Chemical facilities owned by companies enrolled in an industry-sponsored voluntary safety program have had more than 1,800 accidents per year since 1990, according to a new report released today by the Texas Public Interest Research Group (TexPIRG).

The report, "Irresponsible Care: How the Chemical Industry Fails to Protect the Public From Chemical Accidents," analyzes the history of accidents at the facilities that implement Responsible Care®, a voluntary security code subscribed to by companies that are members of the American Chemistry Council, the largest industry lobbying organization and loudest opponent of mandatory safety standards. The report criticizes Bush administration plans to address security at chemical facilities by continued industry self-regulation.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified more than 120 chemical facilities that each put more than one million people at risk of injury or death because of the hazardous chemicals they use and store on site. No federal government regulation requires industries to consider implementing inherently safer technology.

TexPIRG urged the Bush administration to use EPA's existing authority under the Clean Air Act to mandate that chemical facilities substitute safer chemicals and processes where possible. Barring such action from the Bush administration, TexPIRG urged Congress to pass legislation introduced earlier this year by Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) and similar legislation by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) that would require facilities to consider changing their chemicals and processes where available. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston has co-sponsored the House version of the legislation, which would vastly improve safety at chemical facilities in the greater Houston area.

TEXAS CITY BREAKS GROUND, HOUSTON BUYS ADS

Texas City broke ground for a new Galveston Bay container terminal at Shoal Point, while the Port of Houston Authority was scrambling to buy more local advertising space touting its own achievements.

The Shoal Point container terminal is privately funded and does not require tax dollars. Several speakers emphasized that it is to be operational in 30 months and will benefit the whole region.

Texas City applied in 2000 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a permit to construct the terminal on the dredge spoil disposal site at Shoal Point. The project received broad support, including from conservationists. In 2003 the permit was issued, designating Shoal Point as the least environmentally damaging site on Galveston Bay for a new terminal to serve regional cargo needs.

In dramatic contrast, a coalition of bay area cities and the Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association (GBCPA) has filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging a Corps of Engineers permit that would allow the Port of Houston Authority to build a competing container port at Bayport.

Harris County residents are meanwhile being exposed to a steady stream of local advertising placed by the Port of Houston Authority in a transparent effort to counter the widespread public opposition to its Bayport proposal.

BNP BEGINS DRILLING ON PADRE ISLAND, SIERRA CLUB URGES INTERVENTION
Sierra Club, 4/15/04

BNP Petroleum, a company based in Corpus Christi, TX, proceeded with plans to drill for natural gas on Padre Island National Seashore despite the fact the nesting season of the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle began in April.

According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Kemp's ridley sea turtle, the most endangered sea turtle in the world, nests on the beach from April into July. In the Environmental Assessment for the BNP project, the National Park Service established a protected season for the sea turtle from April 16 to June 30 to minimize impacts on the turtle. However, the National Park Service cannot legally prevent BNP from drilling. BNP began its operations by hauling equipment on heavy trucks on April 6 and expects to complete the drilling on June 15.

Padre Island boasts the longest undeveloped beach in the US and is the longest undeveloped barrier island in the world. It is also the one of the few places in the US where Kemp's ridley sea turtles nest.

According to the US Geological Survey, the estimated amount of natural gas under Padre Island National Seashore is roughly equal to the amount consumed in the US in a single day. Unfortunately, the mineral rights under the national seashore are either owned privately or, in some cases, by the State of Texas.