SHIP CHANNEL STUDY CITES IMPROVEMENT
IN TOXICITY
(Ed note: The San Jacinto River and The Houston
ship Channel both empty into the north end of
Galveston Bay)
A far reaching new study of toxic
contamination in the Houston Ship Channel
and it's tributaries has found that while
problems remain, there is "sunbstantial"
improvement in a waterway once regarded
as the nation's most polluted.
The study is believed to be the
most comprehensive investigation of toxic
pollution in the channel system ever
undertaken, or at least in recent history,
according to individuals involved in
designing and overseeing it.
"The overall message from this study
is that there is still toxicity in the
Houston Ship Channel," said Frank Shipley,
director of the state's Galveston Bay Program
and one of the study's scientific reviewers.
"Anyone who goes out looking for toxicity in
the channel finds it."
The study's "good news is that the
channel itself used to be extremely polluted,
but has been improving incrementally for years,
so now it's mainly tributaries that are
polluted," Shipley said.
"IT's pretty much a good news report,"
agreed Robert McFarlane, an independent
consulting biologist who served on the
committee that designed and oversaw the $800,000
study. It was funded by the city of Houston in
lieu of paying a larger fine to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agancy for sewage
violations in the 1980's at facilities since
replaced in a massive continuing upgrade of the
municipal sewer system.
"The study shows that the Ship Channel
continues to be cleaned up over time and the
(federal) Clean Water Act works - or used to
work, anyway," said McFarlane, alluding to
current efforts by the Republican leadership
and some Democrats to modify the law in
Congress.
The study's authors, ENSR Consulting
and Engineering and Espey, Huston and Assoc.,
concluded:
"In general, environmental conditions
in the Houston Ship Channel have substantially
improved in the recent years. The last two
decades have seen steady reductions in waste-
water discharges resulting from permit
regulation."
The author said the fact that toxic
contamination remains in the channel system
is "not surprising in view of the urban,
industrial, and transportation uses of this
water body."
The channel - which forms the lower
portion of Buffalo Bayou and feeds Galveston
Bay _ receives discharges under government
permit from sewage treatment plants serving
most of Houston areas 3.5 million inhabitants
and from one of the world's largest
concentration of oil and chemical industries.
More pollutants enter the channel in storm
water runoff.
The EPA regional office in Dallas
said in a prepared statement that the study
would be useful for federal and state
environmental regulatory agencies, as well as
for municipalities and industries that discharge
to the channel and it's tributaries.
As a result of the study, the EPA and
the Texas Natural Resourse Conservation
Commission have already been trying to pinpoint
the sources of contamination found in Patrick
Bayou, a small industrialized stream just west
of the San JAcinto Monument, where the researchers
found poor water and sediment quality, the EPA
said.
The study raised "some pretty serious
concerns" about Patrick Bayou, said Shipley, an
employee of the state commission.
McFarlane, who chaired the Galveston Bay
Program's scientific advisory committee during
it's five year developement of a conservation
plan for the bay and has been associated with
local environmental groups, said the Patrick
Bayou finding was probably the new study's
biggest surprise.
"It's a small tributary (of the channel),
and no one anticipated the problems that were
discovered there," he said.
Although the bayou itself is essentially
inacccessible to the public, it is just upstream
from fishing spots near the San Jacinto
monument, McFarlane said.
With the exception of Patrick Bayou,
measurements of toxic contaminants in the
channel's tributaries were generally similar to
those in the main channel itself, the study
concluded.
Some tributaries, however, had more toxic
contamination in sediment than did the channel.
The tributaries were the main focus of the
research effort, along with a more limited
examination of chemical contaminants in edible
fish and crab.
The study's seafood-species sampling,
Shipley said, basically confirmed findings in the
1980's that has prompted state health officials to
issue a consumption advisory in 1990 for sea catfish
and blue crabs taken from a limited part of the
uper Galveston Bay system.
That warning, which remains in effect, was
made because of dioxin traces in the low parts per
trillion range found in some seafood species at the
monument and downstream at Morgan's Point.
The EPA said that the "vast majority" of
the 125 pollutants for whic the study tested in
fish and crab from five sites were not at levels
considered to pose such health risks.
Many of the tributaries and side bays
where testing occured had been the sites of
sampling for toxic contamination before, according
to the EPA. Water and sediment samples were then
used in laboratory test for what scientists call
"toxicity" - experiments to determine if tiny
aquatic organisms exposed to those samples are
killed or impaired.
Toxicity was detected in water samples
from Brays, Sims, Vince Patrick and Carpenters
bayous, the EPA said. Other water findings
included "low or nondetected levels" of
potentially toxic metals at most sites, although
mercury exceeded the standard for human health
protection at six sites. In addition, "most
pesticides tested were not detected with the
exception of a few stations."
Toxicity was detected in sediment
samples from 34 sites. The EPA said researchers
could not determine which pollutant or
combination of contaminants might be harming
organisms in those lab tests.
** From the Houston Chronicle August 6,1995 **
Oil Spills
The Houston Chronicle
Editorial, April 3, 1996
Much more is needed to protect coastal waters
Thankfully, the state is better prepared today to respond to oil spills. But much more needs
to be done.
Better cooperation in preventing and cleaning up spills is needed between state and federal
agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, along with the private sector. Regulations regarding
pipeline and barge safety require review to see whether they are adequate, as do the schedules
of inspection.
Sufficient resourses to contain and clean up spills will have to be found. More research is
needed to find better methods to deal with spills and ecologically repair areas that have been
polluted.
Greater penalties may be required against those who, through carelessness or neglect, allow
spills to occur and against those who purposely dump oil and other hazardous materials into
coastal waters.
Fortunately the legislature in 1991 was wise in passing the Oil Spill Prevention and Response
Act. It gave the Texas General Land Office responsibility over oil spill prevention and response
and created a 2 cent per barrel fee on oil delivered in state waters to finance a $25 million
fund.
The fund pays the expenses of the oil spill staff, plus the cost of five response centers
strategically located along the Texas coast. It has afforded the state booms, skimmers, boats,
trucks and other clean up equipment to deal with the spills.
IT has also enabled clean-up contractors to be paid quickly so that they can get on with the
job, rather than debating who is going to pay.
Land commissioner Gary Mauro is asking that the state do more to prepare itself for the spills,
including the acquisition of more clean-up equipment. He is also requesting that the Legislature
end a sometimes confusing situation by giving the land office authority over all spills in coastal
waters, while leaving the Railroad Commission the responsibility for upland spills.
These requests deserve serious consideration. Texas has done much to improve it's handling of
oil spills. But recent headlines show that much more needs to be done.
More Homeowners join lawsuit against SJRA
The Houston Chronicle, April 3, 1996
by Bob Howie
More litigants have joined in a class action suit against the San Jacinto River Authority.
The suit alleges the SJRA was responsible for catastrophic flooding that caused widespread damage in Montgomery and Harris
counties in October 1994.
Twelve homeowners and businesses filed lawsuits MArch 26 against the SJRA claiming the river authority was negligent in
releasing torrents of water from rain swollen Lake Conroe.
Joining the lawsuit were JAck and Edna Vickers, W&W Equipment Co.,Barbera A Loftin, George
and Sue Wickham, George Wickham III, Margaret C. Paras, Greg Vezorak, Air Conditioning Electrical
DC Specialists Inc., Freida Vezorak and Ruth Evelyn Heard.
Heavy rains pelted Montgomery County during a three day period beginning October 15,1994 and
prompted the heaviest flooding in the area in 500 years, according to the Federal Emergency
Management Agency.
Lake Conroe, part of the watershed feeding the San JAcinto River, swelled nearly six feet above
it's normal pool level before the gates were opened at the dam.
Concern about the level of the lake and the pressure the water placed on the rain soaked earthen dam
were amung the reasons for the heavy release of water, SJRA authorities said.
At one point, as much as 15 million gallons of water a minute were pouring out of the lake's
spillway.
Charles and Kelly Robinson filed the first lawsuit in Conroe claiming the SJRA was negligent in
not warning the downstream residents it would be releasing such a large volumn of water.
The Robinsons also have encouraged other home owners affected by the flood to join in their
suit as a class action against the SJRA, but the amount of damage being sought has not
been disclosed.
The basis of the suit claims the SJRA knew how much damage would be caused by the releasing the
vast amounts of water from the lake, but did it anyway.
The Robinsons said in the suit their home, alng with many others adjacent to the San Jacinto River,
would not have flooded had the waters been held back in Lake Conroe and not allowed to flow
unchecked and without regard down the river course.
Another homeowner, Spencer Eggleston, also has had harsh words for the actions of the SJRA.
Eggleston tolse Montgomery County Commissioners recently he had less than 15 minutes warning
before his house filled with water about 1 a.m. during the height of the October flood.
Eggleston said he blamed the release from LAke Conroe by the SJRA for his home being destroyed
and his inability to gain building permits for it's repair. He said he has demanded a full
investigation into the methodology used by the SJRA in determining when the water should have
been released.
Records show more than 26 inches of rain fell within about a 20 hour peroid and that rain fell for
the better part of four days.
The normal pool level of Lake Conroe, a surface water reservoir and not a flood control lake, is
201 feet above sea level.
SJRA officials said water was not released until after the pool level rose to more than 205 feet.
The lakes earthen dam was holding back an additional 100,000 surface acres of water, SJRA
officials said.
SJRA officals have defended their decision, saying the consequences would have been greater
had they not released the water from the lake.
Environmentalists sue Exxon over Wastewater
Plant blamed for polluting Ship Channel
by Cindy Horswell, Houston Chronicle
March 15,1996
Several environmental groups Thursday sued Exxon Co. U.S.A.,
saying it has dumped more than 2 billion gallons of untreated waste-
water from it's Baytown complex into the Houston Ship Channel in the
last five years.
Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, Texas United and some Baytown
residents filed the suit in Federal court in Houston. It asks that Exxon
be ordered to comply with it's federal operating permit and pay the
state up to $25,000 a day for more than 50 days of alledged violation.
Exxon officials have denied any wrongdoing. The company has
contended that any instance in which pollutants may have bypassed the
facility's waste treatment plant during heavy rains was an "act of God".
Texan's United director Rick Abraham responded, "It is outrageous
for Exxon to blame God for their own failure to spend money on an
adequate treatment system to prevent pollution".
The suit alledges that Exxon's untreated process wastewater
sometimes contains enough benzene, a cancer causing agent, to qualify as
a hazardous waste.
Abraham also criticized the Texas Natural Resourse Conservation
Commission for not penalizing Exxon for violating it's discharge permit.
TNRCC oficials could not be reached for comment.
In 1993, Abraham said, the state agency reached an out-of-court
settlement with Exxon on pollution violations but the settlement
addressed on the solid waste violation and not water pollution. It was
opposed by Texans United, the Harris County Attorney's environmental
division and several Exxon labor unions, Abraham said.
The commission has since renewed Exxon's discharge permit and
revised it to allow the release of pollutants during heavy rains. The
new permit is being chalenged by environmental groups and has not gone
into effect. said Jim Hecker of the Washington DC based Trial Lawyers
for Public Justice.
The Environmental Protection Agency is still reviewing Exxon's
request to revise it's permit.
"As long as corporations know they can escape penalty for
polluting the environment, they will continue to violate the law," said
Hecker. "The citizen suit is the only remedy left when government
agencies refuse to protect the public and the environment."
The October 1994 flood in the San Jacinto River
Drainage Basin, South Texas
by Rufus J. Leblanc
Environmental Geology Consultant
Houston, Texas
Forward
The Houston Geological Society is the largest local geological society in the world. Chances
are that over 3,000 of it's members live within the small San Jacinto River drainage basin which
was severely flooded as a result of unprecedented amounts of rainfall over a short period of about
four days in the middle of October 1994. The author has been studying the geology of this basin for
fourty-six years and wishes to share his knowledge of this area with some of it's HGS members, some
of which suffered losses during the flood.
The Record Flood of October 1994
In mid-October, a very large and unususal weather pattern moved the remnants of an Eastern
Pacific storm across northern Mexico into the Corpus Christi, Texas area, then up the middle Texas
coast to the San Jacinto River drainage basin, mostly north of Houston. This happened suddenly
and without forcast.
Within a period of two days, over 20 inches of rain fell in many parts of the basin. The first
indications of severe flooding reported by Houston area television stations occured in the Tomball
and Magnolia areas, northwest of Houston. As the heavy rainfall continued to drift to the northeast
from Corpus Christi, record rainfalls of 27 to 30 inches occured in many areas of the basin.
Flood crest was eight feet above the spillway (elevation 52 feet) at Lake Houston. Below the
dam, the river was no longer confined within it's banks, and flood waters spread out over the entire
flood plain between Lake Houston and Galveston Bay. The path of maximum flood current velocities
(10 mph) did not follow the meandering course of the river. Instead the swiftest currents were along
a straight north south axis.
According to senior citizens throughout the basin, it rained like it never had before. The sudden
accumulation of water on all flood plains was greater than during any previous flood. Over 15,000
buildings, both homes and businesses, were destroyed or severely damaged. Rainwater which fell
on the highest divides moved extremely rapidly down hill. All flood plains were immediately covered
with water, causing severe evacuation problems. At flood crest, flow was 356,000 cfs.
The San Jacinto River Basin
Figure 1 reveals the perfect, well established drainage system of the San Jacinto Basin. The San
Jacinto is a relatively small river by Texas standards. Its drainage basin is nested between the Trinity
River on the east and the Brazos River on the west. The northern part of the basin is at the latitude
of Huntsville, and its southern limits are just south of the greater Houston area. The total areal extent
of the basin is approximately 3700 square miles.
The San Jacinto River has a classic, well developed dendritic drainage pattern, consisting of over
sixty-seven tribtaries (rivers, creeks, bayous, and branches). The three largest streams are the West
Fork of the San Jacinto River (WFSJ), the East Fork of the San Jacinto River (EFSJ), and Buffalo
Bayou (BB). South of Lake Houston, the San JAcinto flows in a single-trunk course to it's mouth at
Galveston Bay.
The climate of the area is humid to subhumid. Average annual rainfall ranges from 48 to 62 inches.
It is important ot not that the basin received approximately one-third of it's annual rainfall in less than
five days during the middle of October.
The San Jacinto River basin lies within the Quaternary, Pliocene and Upper Miocene terains of the
central Gulf Coastal Plain. The highest elevations in divide areas between streams range from over
400 feet in the northern part to just a few feet above sea leval in the southern part. In the "uplands",
the average gradient is about 7 feet per mile.
The lower Quaternary and Pliocen contain large amounts of course sediments; the WFSJ and the
EFSJ are therefore very sandy. The buffalo Bayou drainage basin lacks these course sediments.
Avulsions at Banana Bend and Rio Villa
On of the most common characteristics of a meandering river like the San Jacinto is the process of
channel migration and single meander abandonment by neck cutoff. Meandering rivers flow within
meander belts (ten to 20 times the width of the channels) which characteristically have common
abandoned meanders (oxbow lakes).
When floodwaters of the San Jacinto reached Banana Bend and Rio Villa areas 20 mile northeast of
downtown Houston (figure 2) an amazing
series of natural events occured. At this latitude, the river is
sand rich in comparison the the Trinity and the Brazos rivers. Since 1948, the author has observed
extensive dredging of the areas by sand companies, with a seamingly inexhaustible supply of sand.
Flood waters carrying huge amounts of sediments and debris from wooded areas were able to erode
new points 1-4 on figure 2.
The new channels were the products of avulsions.
Between Lake Houston dam and the Banana Bend area, an airline distance of about six miles, the
San Jacinto River has relatively low sinuosity. Thus then the river crest reached the sharp 90 degree
bend in the river, an avulsion occured at point 1 on the figure. This avulsion was over 500 feet wide,
and it eroded a channel more than 15 feet deep agross Lang Road (Grace Lane), isolating the
community of Banana Bend to the west.
In the Rio Villa area, the river flows from west to east along a gentle bend. When the north south
oriented, swift flood currents reached the area, an avulsion occured at point 3 on figures 2
, 3a and
3b. The avulsion eroded a channel 300
feet wide at unknown depth. It also destroyed a part of
Wallisville road at point 5 and isolated the citizens living within the meander loop to the east. A
second, smaller avulsion occured at point 4 on figures 2
and 3b, just east of the main avulsion.
The newly eroded channels mentioned above were not deep enough to accommodate the post
flood, low water discharge. Residents of the area should keep in mind that future floods will attack
this very vulnerable sandy area, and, in due time, meander neck cutoff will occur.
Ruptured Pipelines
All of the rain water which fell in the drainage basin (in the very short period of four days) tried to reach
sea level at Galveston Bay via thirty-seven tributaries. When all of this energy reached "Pipeline
Alley" across the single channel trunk course of the San Jacinto just east of Houston, all hell broke
loose!
Flooding exhumed 15 pipelines at the Banana Bend avulsion, but theses lines did not rupture.
Several east-west trending pipelines were exhumed and ruptured in the main avulsion at Rio Villa,
and several others were exhumed at the secondary avulsion.
At about 8:00 a.m. on October 20th, citizens liing north of I-10 and just south of the White's Lake
area (east of Channelview) noted the presence of strong odors. Local and county officials
immediately ordered an evacuation of the area. At 10:20 AM, a series of explosions and fires occured
in the flooded area along the river in the southwest White's Lake area (point F, figure 2)
.
Hydrocarbons from ruptured pipelines at Rio Villa floated 2.2 miles southward at 10 mph towards the
White's Lake and I-10 area, where they then exploded and burned. Initial ignition was near the railroad
in the southwest part of Whites Lake. The fire spread northward to Rio Villa.
There are sound geological reasons why the pipelines broke. The very sudden introduction of flood
waters into the lower San Jacinto River valley below the Lake Houston dam at the rate of 356,000 cfs
with a velocity of 10 MPH caused erosion of unconsolidated point bar sands. Pipelines buried in the
sand at depths of three to five feet were exhumed by the avulsions. The river did not rupture any
pipelines buried below its bed along the normal meandering course.
A Natural Disaster
The October 1994 flood was a natural event which destroyed or badly damaged homes, building, and
roads in it's path. No amount of flood control measures could have prevented the flood. It simply rained
too much in too short a period of time. Some residents proclaimed tht their areas had never flooded
before. However, many of those areas are on a natural levees, and those levees are the products of
overbank flooding.
After studying rivers and their flood plains for over 53 years, the author has concluded that the only
sure way to prevent flooding and avulsions along meandering rivers would be to control the rate and
amount of rainfall ina any given area.
Let us consider the pipelines of southern Louisiana for a moment. Does the reader know how many
pipelines are in place between Morgan City and the Gulf of Mexico? Many believe that it is just a matter
of time before the Mississippi River is diverted into the Atchafalaya River. If this major avulsion ever
happens, it will make the Rio villa pipeline ruptures and subsequent fire look like a Sunday picnic. God
forbid such an event!-
Town Meeting -- Bentsen seeks barge funds
Asks $4 million for removal from San Jacinto River
by Bobby Horn Jr.
Highlands-Crosby Star Courier
April 18,1996
SAN JACINTO RIVER -- At the request of Congressman Ken Bentsen (D-25), the U.S. Coast Guard
recently began another study of abandoned barges on the San Jacinto River, a spokesman for Bentsen's
Washington office confirmed Friday.
In March, Bentsen requested $4 million from a House Transportation appropriations subcommittee for
removal of abandoned barges that were outlined in a 1994 Coat Guard report.
This report, which was over 250 pages, stated the conditions of each barge and concluded that many
of the barges were, "likely to pose a substantial threat."
"The most immediate dangers these barges pose include: drifting into commercial shipping lanes during the
frequent flooding in the Houston area; becoming an illegal dumping site; and leaking hazardous materials
into the river from their storage tanks," Bentsen told committee members.
Vince Willmore, a spokesman for Bentsen, said that the Transportation Committee will be writing an
appropriations bill in May that would contain Bentsen's request.
He added that Bentsen asked for a new study so that he would be prepared when the vote comes before
the full house. "We want the most accurate information possible." The vote is expected sometime in June.
Bentsen is expected to meet with Coast Guard officials this week and ask for their support when the
bill comes up for a vote.
Under the 1992 Barge Removal Act, Bentsen was able to ask the Coast Guard to devise a plan to
remove any barge which they consider dangerous to the environment or the the shipping lanes, if
attempts to identify the owner failed.
Wilmore said that once the Coast Guard reviews the situation, they may determine that $4 million
would be more than necessary to complete the work.
Coast Guard says 33 old Barges safe
Bentsen not convinced, will tour San Jac River
by Bobby Horn
Highlands-Crosby Star-Courier
April 25, 1996
HOUSTON -- A survey recently completed by the Marine Safety
Office (MSO) in Houston has determined that none of the 33
abandoned barges within the Houston/Galveston Captain of the
Port Zone pose a threat to the environment or to navagation
on the waterways.
In March, U.S. Rep Ken Bentsen requested the Coast Guard
look into the status of abandoned barges in and along the
San Jacinto River. At that time the Coast Guard directed the
MSO to reinspect all abandoned barges and report their status
to them.
The study found that there were 33 abandoned barges in the
area. Of these barges, nine were found to be on the San
Jacinto River. These barges were surveyed on March 14 and 20.
At that time, the MSO recorder their status as "No pollution
threat/No navigation obstruction."
According to a report obtained by the Star-Courier which
was given to the Coast Guard by the MSO, "One abandoned barge
contains approximately 12,000 gallons of solidified heavy oil
in an intact deck tank. However, the condition of the barge is
such that it does not pose a substantial threat of discharge.
No other barges contain oil or hazardous substances. None of the
barges pose a threat to navigation."
This report contradicts a report conducted by the Coast Guard
in 1994 which stated that the barges were "likely to pose a
substantial threat."
In a memo dated April 12, the Coast Guard reported the MSO's
findings to Bentsen, who had previously requested $4 million
from the Congressional Transportation Committee to pay for the
removal of the barges.
On April 15, Bentsend said that he felt that the barges still
presented a danger to the area and was working to have them
removed. Meredith Grabois, press secretary for Bentsen said
that while they have the Coast Guard opinion that the barges
are not a hazard, Bentsen was still going to push for their
removal.
"Our concern is for the people in the area. They (the barges)
are not pleasant and are an eyesore. Also, there is a danger
of people getting hurt on the river. They certainly need to be
removed," Grabois said.
Bentsen will be in Highlands on Friday to tour the barges
along with State Rep. Fred Bosse, Commissioner Jim Fonteno,
representatives of the San Jacinto River Association, and
the Banana Bend Civic Club.
Congressman, officials tour San Jacinto River
Rep. Bentsen seeks federal funding to remove old barges
By Maike van Wuk
The Baytown Sun
April 28, 1996
Taking a firsthand look at the barges that have been abandoned in San Jacinto River,
Congressman Ken Bentsen toured the river yesterday with several area officials -- and
a contingent of media types -- in tow.
Bentsen (D- Houston) is trying to obtain federal funding for the removal of the barges,
most of which have been abandoned by their owners, who in many cases, remain
unknown.
"I applaud Bentsen. This is the most concentrated effort that has been made since the
21 years that I have been involved in this district," said Jim Fonteno, Harris County
Commissioner.
According to U.S. Coast Guard Captain Kevin Eldridge, 33 abandoned barges are in the
San Jacinto River. Those barges are in the San Jacinto River. Those barges have no
chemicals in them, he said.
Eldridge said the barges do not meet the criteria of posing an immediate threat,
although the barges are likely to pose a substantial future threat.
The barges could become navigational hazards. "It is equated to someone dumping a
machine on the road," Eldridge said.
"We've done an extensive search (for the owners)," Eldridge said. The owner would be
fined for each day that the barge stays in the river and would be responsible for it's removal.
"We traced one barge to Florida and then to Hong Kong, but then the trail went dead. Most
of the barges have been there for many many years," Eldridge said.
Bentsen said the Coast Guard is reluctant about removing the barges because of the novelty
of the 1992 Barge Removal Act. "This is a new responsibility for the Coast Guard and their
concern is that they don't want to get into the barge removal business," Bentsen said.
Bentsen said the Coast Guard is the primary agancy under the act, but he will try to work
with other entities -- like barge companies -- as well. "Our interest right now is just to get
the barges out," Bentsen said.
" I think that we've actually made some progress," said State Representative Fred Bosse,
(D-Houston). The ship channel is in Bosse's district.
"We're moving ahead," he said. "We're getting some agencys involved, but no one has made
a commitment yet."
The commitment is big. The cost of removing a barge is $125,000.
For all the barges to be removed, Bentsen estimates a cost of $4 million.
"We're continuing to work with the Coast Guard to try to come up with a reasonable solution.
We're also trying to come up with funding," Bentsen said.
In February, Bentsen, who faces Baytown native Brent Perry in a battle for the District 25
seat next fall, testified before a House Transportation subcommittee and asked for funding to
get the cleanup under way.
Their decision should be made public in a few weeks, Bentsen said.
Other officials present at the tour were Johnny Rozsypal, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
representative, and John Ward with the Galveston District of the Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission.
Rep. Bentsen will fight to fund barge removal
by Cindy Horswell
Houston Chronicle
April 27, 1996
Rusting abandoned barges littering the San Jacinto River are a serious hazard that must be
removed, even if federal money is required, U.S. Rep. Ken Bentsen said Friday.
The democrat from Houston toured the river by boat and pledged to press the House
Appropriations Committee for the $4 million needed to haul the 22 vessels away. Another
11 barges are in the waterways in the Houston Ship Channel area, he said, but the main focus
of the 22 that are in the river from the mouth to around Highway 90.
But a U.S. Coast Guard captain who accompanied Bentsen on the tour said the agency
no longer considers the vessels the threats that they once were.
"We feel that those which might float free already did so during the 100 year flood in 1994,"
said Capt. Keven Eldridge, referring to the severe flood that sent the river far out of it's
banks. "We also don't think and contain any hazardous chemicals. Most were the kind that
carried sand or gravel or are so corroded there could be nothing left in them."
While a 1995 Coast Guard report states that many of the vessels are "likely to pose
a substantial future threat," Bentsen said the agancy now seems resistant to remedying
what he calls "a long standing and intolerable situation."
He noted that the Coast Guard already spent $375,000 in federal emergency management
money to remove three barges from the river after they broke loose in the 1994 flood. Before
being removed, two had ended up beached in the backyards of riverside homes.
The third was a blackened hull hauled from the middle of the river after being caught in a
spectacular fire that erupted when a gasolene pipeline ruptured.
The river's current and shifting sand during a future storm could unleash another barge,
said Patsy Goss, a member of the San Jacinto River Association.
"Even barges that didn't float down the river ended up in different positions in 1994
after the flood," she said. "Also, many are semi-submerged and pose a hazard to
recreational boat traffic. I know of three boats that have hit them and had to have people
Life Flighted out of here."
Baytown Mayor Pete Alfaro is also pushing for their removal.
"We don't want them breaking loose again." he said. "One could hit the Interstate 10
bridge and close down a major freeway."
Bentsen told the Appropriations Committee in February that something had to be done
to stop the San Jacinto River from becoming a dumping ground for old and damaged
barges that have become too costly for their owners to maintain.
He said Friday that the barges could drift into commercial shipping lanes during flooding
and could leak hazardous materials.
Officials have not been able to locate the owners of the vessels, Bentsen said, so federal
funds may be needed to remove them.
He added that he believes Coast Guard officials are reluctant to get involved because they
don't want the agency to be in the "barge removal business" and see it eat into their budget.
Captain Eldridge insisted, however, that the barges do not meet the criteria for removal
because they are not posing an environmental threat or a navigational hazard.
