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June 5, 2016

Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: June 5, 2015

Featured

  1. When it rains, let it pour – straight into a rain barrel (Jill Carroll – Houston Chronicle, 5/27/16)
    “If recent weather patterns persist, those of us living in the greater Houston area will have more water than we know what to do with. Most of that water will run off houses, streets and parking lots and into storm drains, where it will flow through pipes, ponds and creeks until it hits Galveston Bay.Why not save some of that water – and save money and the environment at the same time – by setting up a rain barrel? A recent Galveston Bay Foundation workshop taught people about using 35-gallon rain barrels in their backyards. Sarah Cunningham, water quality outreach coordinator for the foundation, said the group’s rain-barrel education program began in 2013 to help conserve water, reduce runoff and prevent bacteria from reaching Galveston Bay through storm drains. Since then, the foundation has put 1,100 rain barrels in the community, potentially cutting 1.9 million gallons of runoff a year.”
    www.houstonchronicle.com
  2. Leaving Land Alone To Hold Floodwater West Of Houston (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media, 5/31/2016)
    “Houston sprawls for miles, but we went to where that sprawl stops. ‘I think if you’d listen for a minute, you don’t hear any cars,’ says Mary Anne Piacentini as she stands near a pond on the Katy Prairie 45 miles west of downtown Houston. ‘We protect over 20,000 acres right now,’ says Piacentini, director of the Katy Prairie Conservancy. Twenty thousand acres of farm and ranch land and restored wetlands are protected from housing and commercial development that’s creeping ever closer as Houston grows bigger. And last month when the big Tax Day Storm hit, much of the acreage flooded… These thousands of acres of prairie held back millions of gallons of rainwater that otherwise would have flowed eastward. A good part of it would have run into the Barker and Addicks reservoirs which still filled with record amounts of water from last month’s storm. ”
    www.houstonpublicmedia.org
  3. Oil spill first in Port of Beaumont’s history (Eric Besson – Beaumont Enterprise, 6/1/2016)
    “Most of the nearly 900 gallons of crude oil that spilled onto the ground and in the Neches River Saturday at the Port of Beaumont has evaporated after what apparently was the port’s first oil spill, officials said Tuesday. The leak of Eagle Ford, Texas-found oil sprung from a pipe at the Jefferson Energy Terminal on the port’s Orange County side. It prompted a days-long closure of the channel to boats and a multi-agency response to clean up the spill and monitor the potential environmental impact. The cause remains under investigation, Jefferson Energy spokesman Mark Viator said. The company resumed land operations Tuesday and plans to restart marine operations later this week, Viator said. No chemical dispersants were used to clean the mess, though absorbent pads and floating barriers called ‘booms’ were set up to collect and contain the spill, U.S. Coast Guard petty officer Dustin Williams said. Williams said he was not sure how much oil was recovered.”
    www.beaumontenterprise.com

EcoNotes

  • 4 June
  • 3 June
    • Climate change threatens planet’s cultural, natural treasures, report says (Brian Kahn – Texas Climate News)
      http://texasclimatenews.org
    • Movers & Shakers: Industrial Water Project of the Year, CH2M Infrastructure Contracts (Water Tech Online)
      www.watertechonline.com
    • Solar Will Replace Nearly All Retiring Coal in Texas (Katherine Tweed – GTM)
      www.greentechmedia.com
    • Sorghum producers concerned as EPA releases controversial assessment (Angie Winn – ABC 7 News)
      www.kswo.com
    • AAAS Symposium Highlights Steps to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions (AXO CleanTech)
      www.azocleantech.com
    • Crowded Cities; Expensive Parks; and Difficult Landlords: Urban Insights From Around The Web (Ryan Holeywell – The Urban Edge)
      http://urbanedge.blogs.rice.edu
  • 2 June
    • Climate Change in the American Mind: March, 2016 (Anthony Leiserowitz, Edward Maibach, Connie Roser-Renouf, Geoff Feinberg and Seth Rosenthal – Yale Program on Climate Change Communication)
      http://climatecommunication.yale.edu
    • As Petroleum Royalties Dwindle, Questions Target Property Assessments (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Texas’ Brazos River hits century high, Houston braces for floods (Suzannah Gonzales, Brendan O’Brien and Jon Herskovitz – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
    • How Do You Approach “Preservation” When It’s Not Buildings That Are At Risk? (Andrew Keatts – The Urban Edge)
      http://urbanedge.blogs.rice.edu
    • Incident Management Team to set up in Fort Bend County (The Gilmer Mirror)
      www.gilmermirror.com
    • Lindale Farms Residents request Contested Case Hearing (Adrian Shelley – airCurrent News)
      http://airalliancehouston.org
    • Month in Review: May 2016 (airCurrent News)
      http://airalliancehouston.org
    • Residents wait warily, and wearily, for new round of storms (Emily Foxhall, Harvey Rice, and Margaret Kadifa – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com
    • How Do You Approach “Preservation” When It’s Not Buildings That Are At Risk? (Andrew Keatts – The Urban Edge)
      http://urbanedge.blogs.rice.edu
  • 1 June
    • Oil spill first in Port of Beaumont’s history (Eric Besson – Beaumont Enterprise)
      www.beaumontenterprise.com
    • How Blacks, Whites & Hispanics Live Together (Or in Some Cases, Don’t) in the Country’s Most Diverse City (Ryan Holeywell – The Urban Edge)
      http://urbanedge.blogs.rice.edu
    • Texas’ Brazos River hits century high, Houston braces for floods (Jim Forsyth – Reuters)
      www.reuters.com
    • GUEST VIEW: Junk science in energy talks (Todd Staples – OA Online)
      www.oaoa.com
    • New Frisco Public Works Director Paul Knippel does double duty (William Taylor – Frisco Enterprise)
      http://starlocalmedia.com
  • 31 May
    • Leaving Land Alone To Hold Floodwater West Of Houston (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Environmental groups win round in pollution battle with ExxonMobil (Kim McGuire – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
    • How to Slow Down Flood Waters Before They Ever Get to Houston (Houston Matters)
      www.houstonmatters.org
    • How Houston Has Changed in the Last 10 Years, As Told By Demo and Construction Permits (Swamplot)
      http://swamplot.com
    • ExxonMobil May Face Many Millions In Fines After Court Reverses Baytown Refinery Decision (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Leaving Land Alone To Hold Floodwater West Of Houston (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • New txH2O spotlights water seed grant-funded TAMUS inventions and technologies (Texas Water Resources Institute)
      http://twri.tamu.edu
    • TWRI monitors progress of White Creek tributary restoration efforts (Eva Vigh – Texas Water Resources Insitute)
      http://twri.tamu.edu
    • The History and Future of the Clean Energy Ministerial (David Sandalow – Columbia)
      http://energypolicy.columbia.edu
    • Green Jobs are Sprouting Up. Will It Last? (Ken Silverstein – Environmental Leader)
      www.environmentalleader.com
    • Texas’s War Against Washington DC (Leslie Loftis – The Federalist)
      http://thefederalist.com
  • 29 May
    • Boil-water alerts in Texas on the rise for many reasons (David Warren – Washington Times)
      www.washingtontimes.com
  • 28 May
    • State of Texas: In-Depth Special – Safety changes after disastrous floods (Kevin Kline and Josh Hinkle – KXAN)
      http://kxan.com
  • 27 May
  • 26 May
  • 25 May
    • Places Texas kids can go to get closer to nature (Jessica Hamilton – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com
  • 20 May
  • 18 May
    • Report: Texas Must Increase Water Conservation Efforts (Madlin Mekelburg – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 17 May