Jul. 07, 2010
By DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.
ramirez@star-telegram.com
A fish consumption advisory was issued Wednesday by a state agency warning people not to consume any species of fish from the Trinity River in Tarrant, Dallas, Ellis, Kaufman, Henderson Navarro, Freestone and Anderson counties.
The advisory by the Texas Department of State Health Services was issued after tests indicated that fish taken from the river had elevated levels of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyl’s or PCBs.
The agency warned that long-term consumption of fish with dioxins and PCBs might cause cancer and liver, immune system and reproductive problems.
State officials said that PCBs are industrial chemicals once used as coolants and lubricants in electrical equipment. The Environmental Protection Agency banned PCBs in 1979, but items containing it did not have to be replaced.
Dioxins are byproducts of combustion and industrial activity, state officials said.
PCB levels in fish about 0.047 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) may pose a risk to human health, according to state standards. The levels in fish taken from the Trinity River was at 0.185 mg/kg and they were as high as 1.301 mg/kg, state officials said.
Levels of dioxins averaged 2.64 picograms per gram (pg/g), above the state standards of 2.33 pg/g.
State officials, however, noted that the high levels of PCBs and dioxins in fish do not pose a health risk for people swimming or taking part in any water recreation activities.
The advisory includes the Clear Fork of the Trinity River from the Benbrook Reservoir Dam and the West Fork of the Trinity River from the Lake Worth Dam to the U.S. 287 bridge on the Freestone-Anderson county line.
DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR., 817-390-7763
Read morein the Fort Worth Star Telegram
Showing posts with label Trinity River. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trinity River. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Monday, July 30, 2007
Trinity road in Trinity Park going to voters
Barring legal challenges, voters will decide in November whether to keep highway in Trinity corridor project plans
By BRUCE TOMASO - The Dallas Morning News - Monday, July 30, 2007
Opponents of a toll road inside the Trinity River levees collected enough signatures to force a November vote on the project, the Dallas city secretary said Sunday night.
Supporters of the toll road say it's needed to alleviate downtown traffic congestion. They say it's been approved already not just by those 1998 bond voters, but also by the City Council in 2003. And they say that scrapping the road would further delay other aspects of the Trinity project.
Ms. Hunt's group had 60 days to collect about 48,000 valid signatures from registered voters who live in Dallas. TrinityVote turned in more than 80,000 signatures on June 29. By law, City Secretary Deborah Watkins had until Sunday to certify whether a sufficient number of those were valid.
Mr. Holcomb said his group "will take a little bit of time to look the petitions over," but suggested that a legal challenge to Ms. Watkins' certification was unlikely. "Our focus will be on November," he said.
If approved by voters, the referendum would ban construction inside the levees of any road that's more than two lanes in each direction and has a speed limit of more than 35 mph.
The practical effect would be to kill the currently conceived Trinity toll road, which is envisioned as a high-speed, multi-lane highway. The road would run about nine miles, from U.S. Highway 175 south of downtown to the confluence of Interstate 35E and State Highway 183 to the north.
Seeking a new alignment for such a highway outside the levees would be prohibitively expensive, and acquiring the land to build it would take years, according to Mr. Holcomb and several downtown business groups.
A roadway inside the levees has been a part of the Trinity River project from Day One. But the size, configuration, cost and purpose of that road have long been matters of deep dispute.
In the Trinity plan first approved by the City Council shortly after the 1998 bond vote, the highway would have been divided with four southbound lanes on the Oak Cliff side of the river and four northbound lanes on the downtown side.
In 2003, at the urging of then-Mayor Laura Miller, the City Council revised the plan, coming up with a new version that council members said was much more environmentally friendly: All lanes were moved to the downtown side, providing unrestricted access to the downtown park from the Oak Cliff side. The road was reduced from eight lanes overall to six north of Continental Avenue and four south of there (with room to expand to six later.)
But the kinder, gentler version would still provide limited access to the riverside park; its chief function would be to whisk cars past downtown, alleviating congestion on Stemmons Freeway and other existing roads.
Ms. Hunt was elected to the City Council in 2005 from District 14, which includes parts of downtown, Uptown, East Dallas and Oak Lawn. She was appointed by Ms. Miller to the council's Trinity River committee and eventually came to question the cost of the road, which has escalated considerably, to almost $1 billion.
She said she reached her breaking point on the subject of the toll road early this year, when city staff informed the Trinity River committee that the road would have to be moved closer to the river — farther in from the levees — because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in the post-Katrina era, was concerned about protecting the integrity of those levees.
This would mean less park. It would also mean that those enjoying the park by the river's edge would be closer to the traffic noise from the tollway.
"This, to me, has just become a bloated project, a dangerous project," she said at the time. "Costs keep going up. Green space shrinks."
She announced plans to launch the petition drive shortly thereafter.
In talking with constituents, she said, she learned that many of them didn't know that when they voted for the bonds, they were voting for a toll road in their downtown park. The 1998 ballot measure, in describing the road, mentioned only "the Trinity Parkway and related street improvements."
However, news stories around the time of the 1998 bond vote clearly described the proposed road as a toll road. An advertisement taken out by environmental groups and others in The Dallas Morning News in April 1998 urged people to vote against the bonds, in part because the project included a "proposed eight-lane tollway inside the levee."
Read more
By BRUCE TOMASO - The Dallas Morning News - Monday, July 30, 2007
Opponents of a toll road inside the Trinity River levees collected enough signatures to force a November vote on the project, the Dallas city secretary said Sunday night.
Supporters of the toll road say it's needed to alleviate downtown traffic congestion. They say it's been approved already not just by those 1998 bond voters, but also by the City Council in 2003. And they say that scrapping the road would further delay other aspects of the Trinity project.
Ms. Hunt's group had 60 days to collect about 48,000 valid signatures from registered voters who live in Dallas. TrinityVote turned in more than 80,000 signatures on June 29. By law, City Secretary Deborah Watkins had until Sunday to certify whether a sufficient number of those were valid.
Mr. Holcomb said his group "will take a little bit of time to look the petitions over," but suggested that a legal challenge to Ms. Watkins' certification was unlikely. "Our focus will be on November," he said.
If approved by voters, the referendum would ban construction inside the levees of any road that's more than two lanes in each direction and has a speed limit of more than 35 mph.
The practical effect would be to kill the currently conceived Trinity toll road, which is envisioned as a high-speed, multi-lane highway. The road would run about nine miles, from U.S. Highway 175 south of downtown to the confluence of Interstate 35E and State Highway 183 to the north.
Seeking a new alignment for such a highway outside the levees would be prohibitively expensive, and acquiring the land to build it would take years, according to Mr. Holcomb and several downtown business groups.
A roadway inside the levees has been a part of the Trinity River project from Day One. But the size, configuration, cost and purpose of that road have long been matters of deep dispute.
In the Trinity plan first approved by the City Council shortly after the 1998 bond vote, the highway would have been divided with four southbound lanes on the Oak Cliff side of the river and four northbound lanes on the downtown side.
In 2003, at the urging of then-Mayor Laura Miller, the City Council revised the plan, coming up with a new version that council members said was much more environmentally friendly: All lanes were moved to the downtown side, providing unrestricted access to the downtown park from the Oak Cliff side. The road was reduced from eight lanes overall to six north of Continental Avenue and four south of there (with room to expand to six later.)
But the kinder, gentler version would still provide limited access to the riverside park; its chief function would be to whisk cars past downtown, alleviating congestion on Stemmons Freeway and other existing roads.
Ms. Hunt was elected to the City Council in 2005 from District 14, which includes parts of downtown, Uptown, East Dallas and Oak Lawn. She was appointed by Ms. Miller to the council's Trinity River committee and eventually came to question the cost of the road, which has escalated considerably, to almost $1 billion.
She said she reached her breaking point on the subject of the toll road early this year, when city staff informed the Trinity River committee that the road would have to be moved closer to the river — farther in from the levees — because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in the post-Katrina era, was concerned about protecting the integrity of those levees.
This would mean less park. It would also mean that those enjoying the park by the river's edge would be closer to the traffic noise from the tollway.
"This, to me, has just become a bloated project, a dangerous project," she said at the time. "Costs keep going up. Green space shrinks."
She announced plans to launch the petition drive shortly thereafter.
In talking with constituents, she said, she learned that many of them didn't know that when they voted for the bonds, they were voting for a toll road in their downtown park. The 1998 ballot measure, in describing the road, mentioned only "the Trinity Parkway and related street improvements."
However, news stories around the time of the 1998 bond vote clearly described the proposed road as a toll road. An advertisement taken out by environmental groups and others in The Dallas Morning News in April 1998 urged people to vote against the bonds, in part because the project included a "proposed eight-lane tollway inside the levee."
Read more
Gas driller pressured to preserve green areas by Ft. Worth Park
By MIKE LEE- Star-Telegram staff writer - Mon, Jul. 30, 2007
FORT WORTH -- Hundreds of people have written letters and signed petitions, asking a natural gas company not to drill next to two popular parks.
Chesapeake Energy is working with local officials to minimize the effects of drilling at one site and has not decided whether to drill at the other, a spokeswoman said.
Chesapeake acquired both sites last year -- 8 acres along the Trinity River trail west of University Drive and 50 acres just east of Tandy Hills Nature Center, between Beach Street and Oakland Boulevard near Interstate 30.
The Trinity River site includes a grove of shade trees next to a parking lot that joggers, hikers and bicyclists use to explore the river trails. Jim Marshall, a bicyclist and bird enthusiast, said he has seen wild turkeys and eastern bluebirds there; both are rare in urban areas.
Marshall has collected letters and signatures from 442 people opposed to drilling at the site.
"Most of us thought that was a park," Marshall said. "In my mind and in the mind of a lot of people, that's a horrible thing to have happen to what I think is one of the most beautiful groves of trees along the Trinity trails."
Chesapeake would have to clear-cut more than 2 acres of trees at the site and erect a chain-link fence to drill in the area, Chesapeake Vice President Julie Wilson said. The company plans to drill six to eight wells in two phases, each of which would take 60 to 80 days. Production would continue for 20 to 30 years, and crews would need to rework the well periodically throughout that time.
Wilson said the pad site will be at the back of the tract.
"It's not the trees that are out alongside by the trails," she said. "We're going to make every effort to make sure that that view where the joggers and bikers go by is affected as little as possible."
The site was already privately owned, and the previous owner could have cut the trees to build on it, Wilson said.
"This, frankly, was a great way to preserve a lot of that area that would not have been preserved if an apartment complex or an office building had gone in," she said.
The site would be used to drill for gas beneath the Colonial Country Club, which is just south of the river, and the Union Pacific rail yard, which runs next to the trail.
Marshall has suggested that Chesapeake drill on Union Pacific's land, but Wilson said the company doesn't own a drill site there.
At Tandy Hill Park, residents are working with Chesapeake to move any potential drill sites away from the neighborhood and are trying to encourage the company to donate any unused land to the park. Tandy Hills includes about 180 acres of tallgrass prairie that is nearly pristine, even though it borders Interstate 30 a couple of miles from downtown.
It's also near Gateway Park, which is reportedly the site of some of the most productive gas wells in the region.
The land Chesapeake bought has gone undeveloped because it is in the shadow of the broadcast towers near the KXAS/Channel 5 studios. Chesapeake acquired its tract from Sagamore Hill Baptist Church, which acquired it from the Carter family, the previous owner of the Star-Telegram and Channel 5.
"It's a piece of ground I've been trying to protect for 15 years," said Wanda Conlin, who lives in the West Meadowbrook neighborhood. "Almost all of us bought our houses because it was there. We love the land."
Don Young, an environmentalist who has organized a festival to help protect Tandy Hills Park, has gotten letters and signatures from 70 people in support of preserving the land.
Wilson said the company has not done geological testing to determine where -- or even whether -- the company will drill a well at the site. Chesapeake has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop local parks and will try to show the same commitment on the Tandy Hills site, she said.
"We'll be very sensitive to the environment and the needs of the neighborhood," she said.
Fort Worth Councilwoman Kathleen Hicks, who met with Chesapeake officials and neighborhood residents last week, said she was encouraged by the talks.
"Obviously, our goal is to minimize the impact on the park," she said.
Read more
FORT WORTH -- Hundreds of people have written letters and signed petitions, asking a natural gas company not to drill next to two popular parks.
Chesapeake Energy is working with local officials to minimize the effects of drilling at one site and has not decided whether to drill at the other, a spokeswoman said.
Chesapeake acquired both sites last year -- 8 acres along the Trinity River trail west of University Drive and 50 acres just east of Tandy Hills Nature Center, between Beach Street and Oakland Boulevard near Interstate 30.
The Trinity River site includes a grove of shade trees next to a parking lot that joggers, hikers and bicyclists use to explore the river trails. Jim Marshall, a bicyclist and bird enthusiast, said he has seen wild turkeys and eastern bluebirds there; both are rare in urban areas.
Marshall has collected letters and signatures from 442 people opposed to drilling at the site.
"Most of us thought that was a park," Marshall said. "In my mind and in the mind of a lot of people, that's a horrible thing to have happen to what I think is one of the most beautiful groves of trees along the Trinity trails."
Chesapeake would have to clear-cut more than 2 acres of trees at the site and erect a chain-link fence to drill in the area, Chesapeake Vice President Julie Wilson said. The company plans to drill six to eight wells in two phases, each of which would take 60 to 80 days. Production would continue for 20 to 30 years, and crews would need to rework the well periodically throughout that time.
Wilson said the pad site will be at the back of the tract.
"It's not the trees that are out alongside by the trails," she said. "We're going to make every effort to make sure that that view where the joggers and bikers go by is affected as little as possible."
The site was already privately owned, and the previous owner could have cut the trees to build on it, Wilson said.
"This, frankly, was a great way to preserve a lot of that area that would not have been preserved if an apartment complex or an office building had gone in," she said.
The site would be used to drill for gas beneath the Colonial Country Club, which is just south of the river, and the Union Pacific rail yard, which runs next to the trail.
Marshall has suggested that Chesapeake drill on Union Pacific's land, but Wilson said the company doesn't own a drill site there.
At Tandy Hill Park, residents are working with Chesapeake to move any potential drill sites away from the neighborhood and are trying to encourage the company to donate any unused land to the park. Tandy Hills includes about 180 acres of tallgrass prairie that is nearly pristine, even though it borders Interstate 30 a couple of miles from downtown.
It's also near Gateway Park, which is reportedly the site of some of the most productive gas wells in the region.
The land Chesapeake bought has gone undeveloped because it is in the shadow of the broadcast towers near the KXAS/Channel 5 studios. Chesapeake acquired its tract from Sagamore Hill Baptist Church, which acquired it from the Carter family, the previous owner of the Star-Telegram and Channel 5.
"It's a piece of ground I've been trying to protect for 15 years," said Wanda Conlin, who lives in the West Meadowbrook neighborhood. "Almost all of us bought our houses because it was there. We love the land."
Don Young, an environmentalist who has organized a festival to help protect Tandy Hills Park, has gotten letters and signatures from 70 people in support of preserving the land.
Wilson said the company has not done geological testing to determine where -- or even whether -- the company will drill a well at the site. Chesapeake has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop local parks and will try to show the same commitment on the Tandy Hills site, she said.
"We'll be very sensitive to the environment and the needs of the neighborhood," she said.
Fort Worth Councilwoman Kathleen Hicks, who met with Chesapeake officials and neighborhood residents last week, said she was encouraged by the talks.
"Obviously, our goal is to minimize the impact on the park," she said.
Read more
Monday, July 16, 2007
Flooded areas start to assess damage
Associated Press - Tuesday, July 10, 2007
DALLAS - Officials were assessing damage from intense weekend flooding Monday, while the heaviest storms subsided across Texas.
The storms that have caused widespread flooding and at least 16 deaths across the state appeared to be scattering, and the flooding danger in most areas was reduced significantly barring heavy storms, said National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Martello.
He said the low pressure systems fueling rain for the past month across Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas have moved off.
Smith County officials in East Texas made a disaster declaration Sunday night, asking for state and federal aid to repair an estimated $200,000 in flooding damage. That number could go up after county officials get more estimates of damages to roads and homes, Smith County assistant engineer Doug Nicholson said. After the rain subsided Sunday morning, there were nine impassable roads and 35 roads with flood damage, he said.
"We woke up on Sunday morning with a bunch of roads ripped open," he said.
Meanwhile Monday, the Travis County medical examiner confirmed the identity of a body pulled from Lake Travis as 20-year-old Bradley McMellon, of Leander. McMellon and Paul Slinkard, also 20, disappeared after their sport utility vehicle became submerged in rushing floodwaters in Burnet County.
Rescuers in Burnet County were still searching for Slinkard.
In North Texas, the search for a 26-year-old man missing since his raft capsized on the rain-swollen Trinity River near Fort Worth continued Monday, said Kent Worley, spokesman for the Fort Worth Fire Department.
Teams had shifted their search from a rescue mission to a recovery, Worley said. A police helicopter scanned downstream for the missing rafter while police searched in boats.
Worley described the man and a 23-year-old companion, who swam upstream to safety, as inexperienced rafters who "made a major mistake" by venturing on the swollen river. Neither man wore a life jacket.
Read more
DALLAS - Officials were assessing damage from intense weekend flooding Monday, while the heaviest storms subsided across Texas.
The storms that have caused widespread flooding and at least 16 deaths across the state appeared to be scattering, and the flooding danger in most areas was reduced significantly barring heavy storms, said National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Martello.
He said the low pressure systems fueling rain for the past month across Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas have moved off.
Smith County officials in East Texas made a disaster declaration Sunday night, asking for state and federal aid to repair an estimated $200,000 in flooding damage. That number could go up after county officials get more estimates of damages to roads and homes, Smith County assistant engineer Doug Nicholson said. After the rain subsided Sunday morning, there were nine impassable roads and 35 roads with flood damage, he said.
"We woke up on Sunday morning with a bunch of roads ripped open," he said.
Meanwhile Monday, the Travis County medical examiner confirmed the identity of a body pulled from Lake Travis as 20-year-old Bradley McMellon, of Leander. McMellon and Paul Slinkard, also 20, disappeared after their sport utility vehicle became submerged in rushing floodwaters in Burnet County.
Rescuers in Burnet County were still searching for Slinkard.
In North Texas, the search for a 26-year-old man missing since his raft capsized on the rain-swollen Trinity River near Fort Worth continued Monday, said Kent Worley, spokesman for the Fort Worth Fire Department.
Teams had shifted their search from a rescue mission to a recovery, Worley said. A police helicopter scanned downstream for the missing rafter while police searched in boats.
Worley described the man and a 23-year-old companion, who swam upstream to safety, as inexperienced rafters who "made a major mistake" by venturing on the swollen river. Neither man wore a life jacket.
Read more
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