Swamplot Archives by Category: Toxic Sites

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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Comment of the Day: Not Much Happening South of Clear Brook Landing

September 22, 2009 – 3:12 pm
   

“. . . Beamer Road is a special case because of the Brio Superfund Site. There was a waste processing plant that had disposed of a great deal of material from various refineries by dumping it into earthen pits. That was not standard practice; this was Houston’s Love Canal. The Brio site has been contained to prevent additional seepage through the groundwater, but the pollution that’s there would be far too expensive to remediate. So yeah, unless your friend got a chunk of that sweet sweet settlement, he’s probably **** out of luck.” [TheNiche, commenting on Comment of the Day: Where the Townhomes Ain’t]

3:12 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Comments, Hazards, Quicklink, Toxic Sites
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Monday, August 17, 2009

Out of the Lead but Into the Fire: Bruce Elementary School Burns

August 17, 2009 – 12:23 pm

The old Bruce Elementary School on Bringhurst St. in the Fifth Ward — featured on Swamplot just last week and apparently just about ready to go up for sale — went up in flames last Friday night, reports our neighborhood correspondent. A story featured on Abc13 news says the building did suffer major damage from the flames, and makes it sound as if arson is suspected. Did any of the asbestos do its job?

Photo of former Bruce Elementary School, 713 Bringhurst St.: Vaughn Mueller

12:23 pm | 3 Comments | Read more about Commercial Real Estate, Development Strategies, Environmental, Hazards, Land for Sale, Neighborhoods: Fifth Ward, Schools, Toxic Sites
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Monday, August 10, 2009

The Fifth Ward’s Old Bruce Elementary School: Lead Scraped and Ready!

August 10, 2009 – 11:17 am

Swamplot’s new “Bottom” of the Fifth Ward correspondent Vaughn Mueller reports from the site of the old Bruce Elementary School, where a sign indicates the property is for sale. A source tells Swamplot that a few details need to be worked out before it’s “officially” on the market, but an HISD web page provides some information about the property.

The school, which was closed at the end of the spring 2007 semester, sits along Cage and Bringhurst on the I-10 feeder road, and comprises a little more than 2 blocks. Mueller reports that the new Bruce Elementary (built by a 2002 HISD bond) less than a mile away on Jensen opened its doors in the fall of 2007.

Why the move?

Continue Reading This Story >

11:17 am | 1 Comment | Read more about Commercial Real Estate, Environmental, Hazards, Land for Sale, Neighborhoods: Fifth Ward, Schools, Toxic Sites
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Friday, July 17, 2009

Chlorine Clouds over Katy

July 17, 2009 – 4:27 pm

Katy residents living near a pool supply company got breathtaking views of the spectacular black plumes emanating from the RAM Chemical and Supply warehouse at 4949 Greenhouse Rd. during last weekend’s fire.

But the fun wasn’t entirely over: A separate episode yesterday resulted in a shelter-in-place order for a few hours last night — for downwind neighborhoods east of the Windstone Colony subdivision, stretching from Greenhouse Rd. to Barker Cypress. Fire officials warned of toxic clouds billowing out from a supply of hazardous chemicals still housed in the singed remains of the warehouse.

Video: Kevin Neugebauer

4:27 pm | 3 Comments | Read more about Air Quality, Hazards, Katy, Neighborhoods: Windstone Colony, Toxic Sites
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Monday, June 1, 2009

The Pleasure Mounds of Shadow Creek Ranch: More Landscaping Fun at the Blue Ridge Landfill

June 1, 2009 – 12:03 pm

You saw the video. Now comes the detail: OffCite has more on recent Rice University architecture grad Lysle Oliveros’s proposal for turning that putrid pile of garbage next door to Shadow Creek Ranch into an exciting outdoor playplace! The fun comes in 3 phases.

In phase 1, trash haulers would start a new pile with each year’s take, completing a mound every 12 months:

Each monument compared to the next would create an awareness of the massive amount of disposed consumer goods. For example, the 2008 “index” created by Hurricane Ike debris would have been 400 feet tall.

Too bad about the City of Pearland’s recent agreement with Republic Services limiting those piles to a mere 130 ft. Oh, well — just wait until 2029!

Continue Reading This Story >

12:03 pm | 2 Comments | Read more about Fort Bend County, Neighborhoods: Fresno, Neighborhoods: Shadow Creek Ranch, Pearland, Proposed Developments, Toxic Sites
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Thursday, May 21, 2009

Blue Ridge Landfill Settlement: Shadow Creek Ranch’s New Race Against Waste

May 21, 2009 – 3:35 pm

Shadow Creek Ranch residents worried that the Blue Ridge Landfill just across FM 521 would turn into a 170-ft.-tall mountain of smelly garbage can breathe deeply again, now that the City of Pearland has reached a settlement agreement with the landfill’s operator, Republic Services (formerly Allied Waste).

Among the most important changes: the landfill will be limited to its current height of 60 ft. for 12 more years. Will that be enough time for Shadow Creek Ranch’s homebuilders and Las Vegas developers to sell off whatever remaining inventory they own in the master-planned community? After that, the pile of trash will be restricted to hillock status, at 130 ft. tall — “for an additional 8 years.”

Also good for home sales: Garbage trucks will be banned from using Shadow Creek Parkway west of FM 521!

More details of the agreement from City Attorney Darrin Coker, quoted in The Journal of Pearland:

Continue Reading This Story >

3:35 pm | 4 Comments | Read more about Fort Bend County, Landscape, Neighborhoods: Fresno, Neighborhoods: Pearland, Neighborhoods: Shadow Creek Ranch, Toxic Sites
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Garbage Playground: Developing Houston’s Blue Ridge Mountain

May 12, 2009 – 10:20 am

That gonna-be-170-ft.-high pile of trash going up across the street from Shadow Creek Ranch? Nothing a little smart landscaping can’t handle. Rice architecture grad student Lysle Oliveros’s proposal for the Blue Ridge Landfill makes for a rockin’ video. And Houston needs a mountain, anyway.

Video: Richie Gelles

10:20 am | 12 Comments | Read more about Fort Bend County, Hazards, Neighborhoods: Fresno, Neighborhoods: Pearland, Neighborhoods: Shadow Creek Ranch, Proposed Developments, Toxic Sites
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Friday, May 8, 2009

Houston Ship Channel Surfing, from the Turning Basin to Galveston Bay

May 8, 2009 – 1:48 pm

Houston ship pilot Louis Vest assembled this video from more than 2000 still photos he took on a 3 1/2-hour journey on a 600-ft.-long Panamax tanker navigating the Houston Ship Channel:

The ship was only moving at 5-6 knots for the first half of the trip and up to 10 knots in the open areas away from the docks. The journey begins just below the Port of Houston turning basin at the end of the channel and continues down to Morgan’s Point at the head of Galveston Bay. We still had 32 miles to go to get out to the pilot station in the Gulf of Mexico at that point.

Vest fastened his Nikon D700 to an outside rail and set it to take a photo every 6 seconds.

What does this trip look like in the daytime? Vest made a similar video last year (high-res version).

1:48 pm | 5 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: Houston Ship Channel, Toxic Sites
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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Tank Farming Harvest from Pearland’s New Superfund Site

February 11, 2009 – 5:29 pm

State agencies have finally caught up with the chemical soup left to seep into the soil for two decades at a 3.5-acre abandoned tank farm in south Pearland, poisoning the wells of nearby residents with high levels of lead and other contaminants. Now the Camtraco Enterprises site, at 18823 Amoco Dr. — along a rail line running west of Highway 35 — is poised to become the latest addition to Texas’s Superfund registry.

Camtraco, which operated the fuel storage, blending, and distillation facility under a series of assumed names (Beaumont Chemicals, Camtraco Chemical Corp., Glycols Inc., Mondobello Chemical Services, Picos Chemical Plant, Okemah Hydrocarbons, and Southeastern Oil Company), halted work at the site in 1992. A sampling of the chemical bouquet discovered both on- and off-site from recent TCEQ efforts: arsenic, barium, chromium, lead, mercury, bis(2-ethylhexyl)adipate, bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, diethyl phthalate, di-n-butyl phthalate, methylene chloride, 1,4 dicholorobenzene, toluene, and tricholoroethene (TCE).

Map showing the Camtraco Enterprises site’s former features: TCEQ

5:29 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Hazards, Pearland, Toxic Sites, Water Quality
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Thursday, September 25, 2008

Ike’s Toxic Imprint

September 25, 2008 – 5:23 pm
   

“So far, regulatory officials have identified 228 sites potentially poisoned with gasoline, industrial chemicals, feces and other contaminants from Greater Houston to Lake Charles, La. But none of the reported spills is considered major, authorities said. Cmdr. Virginia Kammer, who leads the U.S. Coast Guard’s cleanup efforts along the Texas coastline, said the largest spill was about 3,000 barrels, and the responsible facility moved quickly to get the problem under control.” What about the region’s 28 Superfund sites? No word yet, but the EPA has “started to investigate.” [Houston Chronicle]

5:23 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Disaster Aftermath, Environmental, Hazards, Quicklink, Toxic Sites, Water Quality
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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Houston Bayous: Now Featuring Raw Sewage!

September 23, 2008 – 3:16 pm
   

“Ever since the hurricane, a number of the city’s waste water treatment plants went without power. As a result, the city was forced to actually dump raw sewage straight into the bayous. First of all, it smells awful. There have also been some oil slicks along the waterways. And you can’t miss the dead fish.” [abc13]

3:16 pm | 1 Comment | Read more about Disaster Aftermath, Environmental, Public Health, Quicklink, Toxic Sites, Water Quality
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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Taylor Lake: Not a Good Time for Swimming, Boating, or Fishing

September 18, 2008 – 6:36 pm

House and Damaged Boat on Taylor Lake, Taylor Lake Village, Texas, after Hurricane Ike

A note from the City of Taylor Lake Village:

Taylor Lake is closed to recreation - swimming, boating, fishing, and water skiing. The Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority industrial wastewater treatment plant on Port Road was inundated during the storm and its ponds of untreated industrial and sanitary waste overflowed into Taylor Lake. The Lake may be contaminated with industrial pollutants (volatile organic and other compounds) and bacteriological contaminants. Residents should avoid all contact with Taylor Lake water until further notice.

Any other area industrial pollutants gone AWOL after Ike? Where did they end up?

Photo of house and damage on Taylor Lake: Flickr user Linda Railsback

6:36 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Disaster Aftermath, Environmental, Lakes, Neighborhoods: Taylor Lake Village, Public Health, Toxic Sites, Water Quality
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Tuesday, September 9, 2008

$325K for a 50-acre Texas City Park?

September 9, 2008 – 9:35 am
   

“BP is staring at a $650,000 penalty for unauthorized land disposal of hazardous waste. . . . The penalty is not yet final but will probably come before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in October, an agency spokeswoman said. Half of the proposed $650,000 fine requires BP to buy a minimum of 50 acres of contiguous property in and around Texas City and make it suitable for park land. The company will be required to preserve the entire property in perpetuity as a park and nature preserve.” [Hair Balls]

9:35 am | Add a Comment | Read more about Environmental, Land Prices, Neighborhoods: Texas City, Parks, Quicklink, Toxic Sites
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Monday, July 21, 2008

Sherwood Forest Mystery Sludge

July 21, 2008 – 2:31 pm

There’s trouble in Sherwood Forest: Newman Branch, a stagnant finger of Buffalo Bayou that traipses between Little John and W. Friar Tuck Lanes, had fire hydrants running full force on Friday to flush out raw sewage that mysteriously appeared in the waterway, reports Allan Turner in the Chronicle:

Houston oilman Dewey Stringer, who lives near the point where the bayou passes Memorial, said similar pollution has periodically plagued the waterway for at least five years. Generally, however, heavy rainfall dilutes the contamination.

Stringer, who was among residents to report the pollution to authorities, said the odor was so severe that he and his wife found it difficult to sleep. He had planned to relocate to Galveston this weekend and commute to work.

Stringer said he has developed eye irritation from vapors rising from the bayou and both he and his wife have developed persistent coughs.

2:31 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Hazards, Neighborhoods: Memorial, Neighborhoods: Sherwood Forest, Toxic Sites, Water Quality
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Raising a Bigger Stink: Shadow Creek Ranch Residents Still Fighting 170-Foot Uphill Battle

July 21, 2008 – 1:03 pm

Rooftops and Sidewalk in Shadow Creek Ranch, Pearland, Texas

The contested case hearing for the proposed expansion of the Blue Ridge Landfill on the western edge of Shadow Creek Ranch has been postponed — to October or November at the earliest — reports Natalie Torentinos in the Journal of Pearland. But the the buzzards are already circling:

Like passing dark clouds, incomparable and scary odors have traveled through Jamie Lee’s neighborhood in Shadow Creek Ranch, the smell seeping through the garage, laundry, even the water faucet. “This morning at 8 a.m. I left to take my daughters to school, and I could barely breathe outside,” Lee said. “It was nauseating.” . . .

Additional issues are geology and drainage –regarding contaminated groundwater and increased flooding, respectively. The landfill is attracting scavenger animals such as vultures, seagulls and rodents. [Attorney Richard] Morrison showed pictures taken of buzzards perching on the roofs of several homes, located in Green Valley Estates north of the landfill.

Allied Waste wants its pile of trash to expand to 784 acres and reach a height of 170 feet. Current restrictions limit the landfill to 302 acres and 60 feet.

Photo of Shadow Creek Ranch: Flickr user Sean Brady [license]

1:03 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Fort Bend County, Fresno, Hazards, Neighborhoods: Shadow Creek Ranch, Pearland, Toxic Sites
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