The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 9, Ed. 1 Friday, October 25, 1991 Page: 14 of 24
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14 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25,1991 THE RICE THRESHER
Houston roundup—environmental issues beyond the hedges
Defore you go for a dip in
the Gulfwaters or order
up a big plate of sea-
food, consider the fol-
lowing: 95 percent of
sea grasses—the very
basis of the food chain
and a "crucial nursery
area where marine or-
ganisms grow"—in
Galveston Bay have disappeared.
Channel dredging, years of indus-
trial pollution and use for final stage
sewage treatment have clouded the
waters.
The Houston Chronicle reported
that a total of855,000 pounds of toxic
chemicals and metals were dis-
charged into the bay in 1988. 278,000
pounds of these substances are con-
sidered long-term concerns to the
bay area.
In a study conducted by the
Galveston Bay Program, it was con-
cluded that".. .in ayearwith average
rainfall, runoff pollution includes a
billion pounds of sediments, which
cloud the water and can carry toxic
contaminants; 58 million pounds of
decaying organic matter that depletes
the bay water's oxygen; and 31 mil-
lion pounds of oil and grease."
TVo major projects currently
threaten to augment the damage to
the Bay. One is the proposed
Wallisville Dam, to be built on the
Trinity River. During dry periods,
the salt water from the bay moves up
the river. Releasing water from the
lake above the Trinity River pushes
the salt water back down into the
bay. The current proposal suggests
that a concrete dam be built as a
saltwater barrier.
"It would be a monumental disas-
ter to build a dam across the Trinity
River Estuary and seal off that estu-
ary," said Councilman Dale
Gorczynski. "From a water supply
standpoint we don't need to do that"
The Trinity River Estuary is a mix-
ture of salt and fresh water that is an
ideal nursery for all kinds of marine
life.
According to Gorczynski, it is the
most productive estuary on the Gulf
coast For an estuary to work, it has
to have the ebb and flow of saltwater.
The Trinity River is essential to the
supply of fresh water and marine life
that feeds into the bay.
An alternative to building a con-
crete dam is an inflatable barrier that
woud be filled during dry periods to
hold salt water back.
This would give the city the same
advantage of using water from the
lake and would serve the city's water
supply needs. Although this alterna-
tive is supported by many environ-
mentalists, the city has already be-
gun to take bids for the building of
the dam.
The Houston Ship Channel is also
to be expanded, which means more
channel dredging. This causes the
water to cloud, admits more salt wa-
ter and removes productive ground
from the bottom of the bay. The
increased salinity caused by such a
project would jeopardize the liveli-
hood of the marine life in the bay.
"Salinity is the toxic pollutant of most
concern in Galveston Bay." said Jim
Blackburn, an environmental attor-
ney who is also a participant in the
new Rice Environmental and Energy
Institute (see related story, p. 13).
Frank Fisher, professor of biol-
ogy at Rice University and chair of
the National Estuary Program, said it
is impossible to know exactly what
kind of effects these projects will have
on the bay. In respect to the pro-
posed dam, however, he expressed
concern. "It's an awfully dangerous
experiment for such a valuable bay."
In September, Harris County
attorney Mike Driscoll re-
quested that Hunter Industrial
Facilities Inc. be banned from
operating in Texas. HIFI is a
toxic waste disposal firm The
Houston Chronicle reported
that the firm donated money
and services to several promi-
nent politicians in an attempt
to gain approval for a controversial
salt dome disposal project to be lo-
cated 10 miles east of Lake Houston.
The Lake is a major source of
Houston's drinking water. HIFI con-
tributed campaign money to city
council members Ben Reyes and A1
Calloway and County Commissioner
El Franco Lee. They also hired cam
paign advisors for governor Ann
Richards and Mayor Kathy Whitmire.
The Houston Chronicle
reported that a proposal
for a 24-lane expansion
of Loop 610 between U.
S. 59 and Interstate 10
has been approved for
federal funding. There
is concern over compli-
ance with the newly
implemented Clean Air
Act, however.
Councilman Jim Greenwood said
the project "has the potential for cre-
ating a couple of miles of intense
pollution." Milton DietertoftheTexas
Department of Highways and Public
Transportation dissented in his as-
sertion that the air quality of the area
will be improved as a result of in-
creased versatile movement provided
to automobiles by the expansion
project
One of the main environ-
mental battles in Hous-
ton is being waged over
valuable wetlands on a
west-side Katy Prairie,
a prime targeted site
for a proposed third
airport An airport built
on this site would dra-
matically affect the
livelihood of migratory waterfowl who
use the site as a breeding grounds.
An Environmental Impact State-
ment recently issued by the Federal
Aviation Administration asserts that
an airport built on the Katy Prairie,
approximately half of which has been
declared wetlands and warrants fed-
eral protection, would cause over-
crowding which could initiate an
avian cholera epidemic, an increas-
ingly common risk for waterfowl.
Studies indicate that populations
of many species of shorebirds have
decreased by over 70 percent due to
the loss of habitat, breeding and for-
aging grounds.
The City of Houston and die-hard
proponents of the Katy Prairie site
say their own surveyors proclaim the
site safe. Mayor Kathy Whitmire's
statement earlier this year— "My
understanding is there are not
any birds that are there now.
In fact that is not a place
they are gathering any /,
longer"— earned her 11
much ridicule in the ( I
press.
A U. S. Fish and Wildlife
report cited in the Houston
Post maintains that 89 spe-
cies of migratory birds
have been identified
on the property.
Twenty to thirty
thousand geese
have been sighted
on the land at one time.
"I have never seen so
many birds in my entire life as I did
when I went to the West Side Airport
site," said Councilman Dale
Gorczynski in a phone interview. "In
fact, there were so many birds that
when they lifted off they covered the
sky. You couldn't see the sun for the
birds out there."
If the City of Houston succeeds
in building the airport it stands to
regain 90 percent of its $5.7 million
initial investment in the 1,400-acre
site.
Federal funding for a third airport
would also compensate for 82 per-
cent of the cost already incurred in
initial preparations such as bulldoz-
ing the land.
The city has already lost more
than $83,000 in rent due to mishan-
dling of business affairs, and paid
sky-high rates for unnecessary main-
&
I
pAULf\
MIRTH
tenance.
Councilman Gorczynski believes
that the reason the administration is
pursuing this particular site is be-
cause of the investment the city has
already made in the land. "It appears
there are better sites available," he
said.
Sierra Club spokesman Bill
Stransky described the project as a
"quick buck scheme for some busi-
ness interests." Indeed, as the delays
pile on, many specultors are losing
interest in the land. The Houston
Chronicle reported Monday that the
$5.7 million tract is now worth $1.1
million.
- Both environmentalists and the
city now await the FAA's ruling on
the potential airport sites. In order
for the project to proceed, the FAA
must show that the Katy site would
not sustain more environmental
damage than the other five possible
sites and that it is the most feasible of
the six.
Many environmentalists and politi-
cians have questioned the need for a
third airport
—LL.
EEIS: a cooperative search for more energy and less damage
From previous page
various foundations, thereby giv-
ing students access to new funds.
Already the institute has received
grants totalling more than five
million dollars. Carroll also said
undergraduates may be given job
opportunities in research, giving
them hands-on experience that
would not be possible in a strict
classroom setting.
"Because it is such a new pro-
gram, the students have not yet
really been affected by it We
don't have any success stories
yet," says Carroll.
Rice's location in Houston is
of significant value to this institute
for several reasons. Rice has easy
access to outside sources of
technical expertise in energy
corporations. Since Houston is
the center of much of the nation's
oil and gas production, it has a
profound effect on environmen-
tal and energy policy. Industry
heightens environmental con-
cerns.
Industry researchers and
policy makers will interact in four
main areas of research.
The first of the four divisions,
involving the mechanics of solids
and structures, is led by civil engi-
neering professor Pol D. Spanos.
Thirteen professors from the depart-
ments of mechanical engineering and
materials science, civil engineering,
and geology and geophysics will
combine forces to develop new drill-
ing techniques while testing the reli-
ability of offshore structures and other
existing underwater large energy
The old method, whose effectiveness
is limited, involves pumping out all of
the water and then treating the con-
taminants.
A new project using natural mi-
croorganisms is presently being
tested out Because these microor-
ganisms need oxygen to conduct
aerobic respiration, scientists are
"There are sociological
dimensions to all technological
developments, and critical
scientific aspects to sociological
research."
systems.
Another of the division s deals with
processed' in porous media, which
examines energy production from oil
flow through porous rock. A team of
16 chemical enginering, environ-
mental science and engineering,
"mathematical sciences, geology and
geophysics, and statistics professors,
led by mathematics professor Mary
Fanett Wheeler, is tiying to develop
new and innovative ways to clean up
the bottom of polluted water bodies.
finding ways of pumping in extra
oxygen, a process referred to as
bioremediation or biorestoration, so
that these bacterium may flourish
and be used in place of the pump and
treat method.
The third division—earth sys-
tems—studies the climatic reponse
to natural and man-induced phenom-
ena, such as gas emissions, vegeta-
tion patterns, global warming, green-
house effect cloud dynamics, and
ice sheet deterioration. Ecology and
evolutionary biology professor Ro-
nald L Sass leads a team of faculty
members from the departments of
ecology evolutionary biology, space
physics and astronomy, geology and
geophysics, and environmental sci-
ence and engineering.
The final division of EESI is that of
energy and environmental policy,
which seeks new approaches to envi-
ronmental dilemmas by combining
technology with public attitudes and
corporate policy, thus creating an
enlightened approach to solving
many ecology-related problems.
Sociology professor Stephen
Klineberg will use his annual Hous-
ton Area Survey, now entering its
eleventh year, to track public attitude
related to social and political
acceptibility and feasibility of energy
and environmental policies.
This year he is going to poll 1000
Texans across the state about their
environmental concerns. The
division's goal is to develop effective
technologies which are economically
profitable, scientifically sound, and
socially acceptable. The humanistic
aspect of scientific developments will
be closely examined. Along with
Klineberg, there are faculty merit
bers from the departments of eco-
nomics, sociology, environmental
science and engineering, and the
Jesse H. Jones Graduate School
of Administration.
The hope of the EESI is that
workable policies will be devel-
oped to attain the goal of ample
energy supplies with limited en-
vironmental risk.
"[ EESI is] a creative use of the
smallness of Rice University as it
brings together the three major
divisions of Rice and allows coop-
erative work among them," says
Klineberg. "There are sociological
dimensions to all technological
developments, and critical scien-
tific aspects to sociological re-
search."
This institute will not change
the way undergraduates or
graduate students attain their
degrees. A degree in an area such
as biology or chemistry is still
necessary because those founda-
tions gives them the basic qualifi-
cations for creative work on a
graduate level. "The object is not
to displace departments. Instead,
we are integrating them," says
Carroll. The institutes are for
the exploration of multidisc-
iplinary innovative research. They
are a way of putting practical
knowledge to work." —J. C.
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Zitterkopf, Ann & Howe, Harlan. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 9, Ed. 1 Friday, October 25, 1991, newspaper, October 25, 1991; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245794/m1/14/?rotate=90: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.