Fate of Sand Pits subject of meeting
By Allison Owens
Lake Houston Sun
Thursday, July 2, 1998
Barrett Station community leaders Jerry Bluitt and Al Goodlow met
with US Rep. Ken Bentsen, and Greg Cooke, regional administrator with the
EPA to discuss Barrett Station's environmental concerns.
The main issue of the meeting was to discuss the long term effects of
excavation on the Barrett Station community.
Representatives from the TNRCC, Harris County Attorney's office and
Harris County Pollution Control also attended the meeting, as did State Rep
Fred Bosse.
Barrett/Crosby Civic League president Jerry Bluitt said Barrett Station
currently has three major sand pits, and a number of inactive pits between
Barrett Station and the San Jacinto River.
The sand pit Bedrock, located just to the north of U.S. Hwy 90, backs
up to the park at Riley Chambers Community Center.
According to Bluitt, Bedrock os three football fields in length and
60 feet deep.
The other 2 sand pits are located on FM 1942.
"We feel that it is not right for them to leave us with these
monstrosities," said Bluitt.
He said once the owners are finished with the pits, many have walked
away from them leaving the pits vulnerable to illegal dumping. once finished
with excavation, a pit becomes of little use and a personal liability to it's
owner.
The safety of those around the pits, the environmental impact on
Barrett Station's economic development were three of the main issues Bluitt
brought up in regards to the sand pits.
While the pits must maintain barriers on the border of public service
roads, no other real fencing is required around the pits. That creates a danger
to young children, said Bluitt.
One family, which is separated from one of the pits by three lines of
barbed wire, has had problems with snakes and mosquitosin their backyard.
Other potential problems include erosion and contamination of the
area's water supply if toxic dumping was to result from the abandoned pits.
Economically, the Bedrock site sits on possible prime economic
development for Barrett Station.
Bluitt said he and other community leaders would like to see the property
reclaimed and restored to be used for economic development.
"That's a prime piece of (Highway) 90 that we lost," he said. "We are
trying to build a tax base here."
While the problems are unseemly to Barrett Station residents, none of
the sand pit owners are breaking the law by excavating their private land.
Bluitt says laws need to be created that will prevent such situations
from happening in the future.
"It's one thing to have (sand pits) by the San Jacinto, but it's
another thing to have them in our community," says Bluitt.
Barrett leaders also said they believed that one of the reasons they
have had problems with sand pits, French Limited and illegal dumping is because
they are a minority community.
"For years we have been dumped on," said Bluitt.
Cooke said he was unsure what the EPA could do for Barrett Station,
since their problem is not yet an environmental problem.
He said, however, the he will try to help the area receive environmental
justice grant money for a study by the University of Texas Medical Branch.
Cooke also suggested a feasibility study to see what can be done with
the pits.
Another way to prohibit excavation of the pits is to become incorporated, a
complicated, expensive option for Barrett Station. Cathy Sisk of the Harris
County Attorney's office said another option would be to go after fencing
legislation for around the sand pits. Despite the amount of support the idea has
she says it has proved to be unsuccessful to get extra legislation.
Also suggested was to study what other areas with similar problems have
done in the past.
Bentsen, Barrett leaders confer on issues
Environmental, sand pits, federal grants discussed
by Lewis Spearman
Highlands Crosby Star Courier
Thursday, July 2, 1998
BARRETT STATION -- On monday, June 29, at the Riley Chambers Community Center,
a multitude of hazards to the health of residents of Barrett Station was voiced to
lend a local reality to the environmental justice initiative. The initiative
is about poor communities having wealthy concerns dumping hazards and trash
on them because they have less political and economic recourse.
Jerry Bluitt, and Al Goodlow represented the community on a variety
of environmental concerns to Congressman Ken Bentsen, (D- US District 25), US
Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Greg Cooke; Pat
Pendelton and Rob Barrett of Harris County Pollution Control Dept; Jodena
Henneke, Leonard H.O. Spearman, Jr of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission and Cathy J. Sisk, Bureau Chief of the Environmental Commmunity
Protection Bureau of County Attorney, Michael Fleming's office and others.
Representative Fred Bosse, (D-TX District 128) answered questions about his
initiatives to help the community.
Will Barrett Station be granted an environmental justice grant? Cooke
promised to advocate for the grant when he returned to his Dallas office. Will
the Barrett community be able to stop changes to the agenda or specified operations
of the Sikes and French Limited Superfund environmental cleanup projects? The
Congressman promised to review closure plans with the EPA personel.
Is there any way Barrett Station can better protect itself from
hazardous toxic dumping; losing more children to sand pits like it did last
year; or will mining operations ride rough shod with onerous hazards for the
community.
The Harris Co. Attorneys' office answered under current laws the county can
do nothing and advised Bluitt to talk with other areas that have dealt with similar
problems. The Congressman and others suggested some law making powers might
be gained if Barrett Station was to become incorporated.
The issue of economic developement being stagnated for the community
was raised by Al Goodlow and elaborated on by Bluit. Barrett Station established
in 1876, hs faced and still faces numerous problems; one answer to the problem is
to encourage businesses to move into the area, according to Bluitt, but how can the
commmunity be expected to attract business when priime property houses unsightly
concerns like sandpits, and toxic waste dumps which "take what they want from our
community and leave us with the mess to clean up."
"Somehow er must reclaim and restore these prime pieces of property," said Bluitt.
"We are trying to build a tax basis for our community needs to be met."
The dumping affected the area most seriously in 1996 when the floods tainted the
community's water supply. Bosse worked wiith the community to try to receive grants
from agency's afterward.
Congressman Bentsen declared that the sandpits and other problems were just tips
of the iceburgs ub a careless disregard fir the well being of Barrett Station residents, " From
my perspective the problem is cumulative, today the problem is sandpits, tomorrow something
else.
The three sites being discussed include: 1: Bedrock, 2: AD Smart on FM1942, 3: Nic & Ed's
Fish Farm on FM1492, several inactive pits near Barrett Station in the San Jacinto River.
The community is looking weth some agency's into filing nusiance concerns to keep kids away from
sites, monitor illegal dumping, dealing with an increase in complaints of water moccasins seeking
homes as shelters.
It became appearant that community leaders had spoken with owners of the properties
in the past and had met with answers that opened more questions and unsatisfactory answers.
The County Attorneys office representative Sisk, summerized proposed alternative actions
from the County perspective. 1: Get the Texas legilature to pass effective legislation on fencing;
2: approach the EPA for a Feasability Study to see if land is "Tainted by Contamination"; 3: Pull
the plas for the French Limited sites and Sikes and see if cleanup has new surprises included; 4:
Apply for and Environmental Justice Grant Aid from the EPA.