The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 237, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 20, 2000 Page: 1 of 16
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WEATHER
Partly cloudy with
highs in the upper 90s.
Lows in the mid-70s.
PAGE 2A
COMMUNITY
Fantasy land
Baytown native develops Web
site to peak interest in politics
PAGE 6A
WORLD
Financial relief
U.S. to offer $1 billion loans to
help Africa buy AIDS drugs
PAGE 8B
SPORTS
How the West won
West League all-stars defeat
Central League, 12-1
PAGE IB
®jie Paptotam H>un
^ SINCE 1922
THURSDAY
July 20, 2000
Volume 78 No. 237
a
Baytown, Texas
www.baytownsuri.com
50 cents
ExxonMobil officials say flaring at plant could continue for a few more days
ByMABENGISON
Staff writer
BAYTOWN — Flaring at Exxon-
Mobil’s Baytown Olefins Plant will
continue another day or two, a com-
pany spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Flaring was triggered by a mechan-
ical problem with a compressor at the
plant about 6 a.m. Monday. At that
time, the flare was extremely large
School districts
to receive part
of state surplus
By ALLISON VVOLLM
Staff writer
The Goose Creek and Barbers Hill
school districts will receive a share of
a $120 million state surplus this year.
Goose Creek will get about
$490,000, and Barbers Hill is expect-
ed to receive $120,000, school offi-
cials say.
The money from this year’s surplus
comes from higher property values
and lower-than-projected growth in
enrollment, said Debbie Graves Rat-
cliffe, a spokeswoman for the Texas
Education Agency.
The state budges on a two-year cy-
cle, and Ratcliffe said property values
in 1999 “went through the roof?’
A1999 law allows sending surplus
money to districts that give home-
owners more than the state-mandated
$15,000 tax break on their home-
stead, Ratcliffe said.
“This hasn’t happened before be-
cause it’s just been on the books since
March, but you shouldn’t count on
getting this every year,” she said.
Seventeen Houston-area school
districts will share the surplus.
The $490,000 will be counted as
revenue for Goose Creek, said Ben
Coker, assistant superintendent of ad-
ministration and business.
Coker said the district plans to put
part of the money toward the opera-
tions budget and part to renovations
to the new administration building.
He said he was glad to hear about
the additional money, and he said he
hopes it comes through for the dis-
trict
Goose Creek gives an additional 10
percent homestead exemption beyond
the state’s $15,000.
After homestead exemptions are
deducted, the owner of a $100,000
home is taxed on $75,000 of the
value.
The Barbers Hill school district is
expected to receive $120,000 of the
state’s surplus.
John Koonce, executive director of
finance for Barbers Hill, said the dis-
trict will apply the money to teacher
pay raises.
Koonce said the raises will be de-
termined in the new budget to be
passed in August
The Barbers Hill school district
provides an additional 20 percent
homestead exemption over what the
state requires.
See SURPLUS on Page 8A
and included heavy black smoke.
Flaring is part of a safety system
that activated to shut down operations
and safely bum off fuel.
Laurel Carlisle, Texas Natural Re-
source Conservation Commission
toxicologist, said smoke from the
flares could cause some respiratory
irritation due to the particulate matter
being emitted. However, there should
be no adverse health effects, Carlisle
said
“It is possible that people who are
exposed may experience temporary
irritation effects such as coughing,”
Carlisle said
ExxonMobil restarted the equip-
ment that failed as soon as repairs
were completed said ExxonMobil’s
Charlotte Howard
“The equipment that was shut
down was restarted in the last 24
hours following confirmation that the
equipment was in good condition,”
Howard said
“We are now in the process of re-
turning the operation to normal, a
complex process that will take 24 to
48 hours to accomplish safely and in
an environmentally sound way,”
Howard said
When the flaring began, Exxon-
Mobil industrial hygienists began
monitoring emissions.
Howard reports that monitoring
confirmed no environmental health
risks for the community.
“While flaring has been reduced
significantly, we will continue to flare
at a much lower rate over the next day
or so,” Howard said
Plant manager John Noel said the
company was working to prevent a
recurrence.
“We apologize for the inconve-
nience this has caused toe communi-
ty,” he said
Contact MJ. Bengtson by e-mail
at ma.bengtson@baytownsun.com or
by phone at (281) 425-8023.
Mayor wants
notification
of bay drilling
Sanchez must meet corps’ seven
special conditions in order to drill
List of conditions, Page 8A
Photo by Alison Ashworth
Myrtle Johnson escaped serious injury Wednesday after she accidentally drove her brand new truck off a ferry
and into the Houston Ship Channel.
Woman treated and released after
driving brand new truck off ferry
By MA BENGTSON
Staff writer
LYNCHBURG—Rush-hour traffic at toe Lynch-
burg Ferry came to an abrupt halt early Wednesday
when a woman driving her brand new pickup truck
onto the ferry hit the accelerator ^instead of the
brakes and flew off the boat into the Houston Ship
Channel.
“Whenever she hit the chain, toe buck flew off toe
end of the ferry and up into the air, then it nose-
dived into toe water,” said Wally Hinojosa, who was
piloting the Ross S. Sterling from the Lynchburg
side of toe channel.
The truck’s 55-year-old driver, Myrtle Johnson,
escaped serious injury. She was treated and released
in good condition from a Pasadena hospital later in
the day. Her home address was not available.
See FERRY on Page 8A
By M A BENGTSON
Staff writer
BAYTOWN — Sanchez Oft and
Gas Corp., the Laredo-based com-
pany now permitted to drill an ex-
ploratory well in Burnet Bay, will
be required to meet seven special.
conditions set forth by the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers in order
to "drill in the bay.
Mayor Pete Alfaro wants one of
the conditions, the 72-hour notice
to the corps prior to moving a rig to
or from toe drill site, also to apply
to the city of Baytown.
“I want the city to be notified 72
hours before they move a rig or be-
gin drilling — not just notifying the
corps,” said Alfaro. “The city wants
to be notified.”
Because that type of notification
is not a requirement of the permit,
toe city would have to make such a
request to the corps.
“If the city would submit a re-
quest to be notified, of course we
would take a look at it,” said Kerry
Stanley of toe corps’ regulatory di-
vision. “That shouldn’t be a prob-
lem.”
The corps’ Galveston district of-
fice, which issued toe permit Tues-
day, is confident toe permit to drill
provides toe necessary restrictions
to ensure environmental protection
of the bay, said Dolan Dunn, chief
of toe regulatory branch.
“We found the project could be
performed in an environmentally
sound fashion,” Dunn said. “We felt
like the concerns (raised by Bay-
town residents and leaders) had
been adequately addressed,” he
said.
Dunn’s statement that the work
can be performed witooutfdamage
to toe bay’s environment is based on
the Sanchez company complying
Residents get lesson in hurricane preparedness
Photo by M.A. Bengtson
Local business owner Bob Kalbitz and Mont BeMeu resident Carolyn Simpson
check the map for Storm surge levels with assistance from Bernard Olive, Bay-
town’s coordinator of the Office of Emergency Management.
By M A BENGTSON
Staff writer
BAYTOWN — Ba;/town’s emer-
gency officials joined forces
Wednesday to hold two free hurri-
cane workshop sessions for the
public at toe city’s community cen-
ter.
More than 150 participants
watched a video of the destruction
wrought by toe 1900 hurricane that
destroyed Galveston,” said Patty
Fowler of Baytown’s office of
emergency management. A more
recent production, sponsored by
Judge Robert Eckels and Harris
County, depicted the effects of a
Level 4 or Level 5 hurricane on
Harris and Chambers counties.
Participants showed particular in-
terest in the color-coded storm
surge maps for both the Baytown
and Chambers County areas. The
maps identify toe areas of potential-
ly dangerous flooding tat could oc-
cur with Level 4 or Level 5 storms.
Bob Kalbitz of Liberty, who
owns a business in Baytown, and
Carolyn Simpson of Mont Belvieu,
among others, checked locations of
their homes with assistance from
Bernard Olive, Baytown fire mar-
shal and director of emergency
management operations.
“I don’t think we would have to
worry about water,” Simpson said.
“We’re worried about wind.”
As people moved from booth to
booth, they could pick up copies of
toe storm singe maps, information
on how to put together survival
supplies and gear, when and how to
evacuate and even how to manage
See WORKSHOP on Page 8A
INSIDE
Business ........
.5A
Community.......
,6A
Classifieds.......
.5B
Comics .........
.48
Nation..........
.8B
Opinion .........
.4A
Obituaries .......
.3A
Police Beat.......
.6A
Sports..........
.IB
Television........
.7A
World...........
,8B
LOTTERY
Lotto: 9-28-35-51-53-54
Pick 3:1-40
i
«I want the city to be
notified 72 hours before
they move a rig or begin
drilling — not just notifying
the corps. The city wants to
be notified. n
Pete Alfaro
mayor
with the conditions of toe permit,
he said.
Concerns were raised early in toe
year by the Lakewood Civic Asso-
ciation, made up of citizens who
live along toe Burnet Bay shoreline,
when the drilling proposal came to
light. Concerns primarily dealt with
the shallowness of toe bay and the
possibility that dredging and prop
washing could bring contaminated
sediments to the surface, which
could pollute the water and damage
the wetlands of Baytown Nature
Center. , . ..
“We’ve met and been in contact
with the city on many occasions,”
Dunn said. “Our commander, Col.
Nicholas Buechler, has been in con-
tact with toe city.”
However, in spite of requests
from Mayor Pete Alfaro and U.S.
Rep. Ken Bentsen, the corps did
not meet with local residents to lis-
ten to their concerns and explain
how drilling could be accomplished
in a shallow bay without environ-
mental damage.
Alfaro expressed disappointment
that a decision was made by the
corps with no input from toe resi-
dents who “will have to live with
this decision,” and he assured that
the project will be closely watched
for compliance.
Contact M.A. Bengtson by e-mil
atma.bengtson@baytcwnsun.com
or by phone at (281) 425-8023.
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Cash, Wanda Garner. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 237, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 20, 2000, newspaper, July 20, 2000; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1020367/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.