Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 4, 1979 Page: 1 of 8
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ran ARANSAS
stamaem
(946-020)
VOLUME 9 - NO. 15 - PRICE 25 CENTS
ON MUSTANG ISLAND, TEXAS
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1979
Fall Fishing On The Way
With summer fishing slowly
winding down, though some
kingfish and ling are still being
caught around the snapper banks,
and there was a report last week
of a boat from Key Allegro having
four blue marlin hooked at the
same time, with one landed, the
expected fall fishing is picking up.
Redfish are being caught in the
surf, the channel and along the
jetties. The fish are running in the
10 to 25 pound range and offer
some real sport. Also, just this
week, it appears that the flounder
are finally beginning to move out
of the bays in their annual fall
migration to the Gulf. They
should get thicker during the next
$52 Million
May Be Added
To Tax Rolls
If local government agencies
have their way, the tax rolls of the
City, Water District and School
District will be increased by an
estimated $52 million valuation,
which could amount to an
additional more than $400,000 in
local tax revenues, according to
City and Water '‘District officials.
Water District attorney Charles
Zahn, Jr., following up on a
question raised by the local joint
tax equalization board, has dis-
covered that the jackets and
platforms under construction on
January 1 of each year at the
Brown and Root fabrication yard
on Harbor Island have not been
rendered as personal property for
taxation, and were not included
on the tax rolls by Pritchard and
Associates, the industrial asses-
sing firm contracted by local
governments.
A representative of the asses-
sing firm told Zahn that the
structures in progress at the
Brown and Root yard were
considered by him to be marine
vessels, and thus not subject to
local taxation. He therefore did
not expect a rendering and did
not include them on the tax rolls.
Following a conversation with
Pritchard representatives, Zahn
reported to the Water Board and
City Council that it had been
agreed that the structures, as they
sat in the yard under construction,
were not marine vessels, and
therefore were subject to taxation.
Zahn’s check with state agencies
returned the same interpretation,
and surfaced at least two similar
cases in Texas that supported the
interpretation, one having to do
with a firm that constructs diving
bells, in Victoria.
The Water Board and City
Council have acted to have the
matter investigated through con-
tact with Brown and Root officials.
Ownership of the structures, on
January 1, must be determined,
since reportedly, the jackets are
built on a work-progress contract,
in which ownership of completed
few weeks, and the average size
of the fish will also increase.
Croaker are also moving out the
pass in good numbers. In the
bays, around the oil platforms,
anglers are catching whiting and
sand trout. Along the north jetty,
when the tide and water condi-
tions are right, speckled trout are
the name of the game.
Coming with the season, and
the fairly clear water along the
beach are some schools of
mackerel. These may be the last
to be seen this fall, but the slowly
cooling water may just as easily
keep them around for another few
weeks.
work changes to the purchaser.
The local agencies will also
request of the company that work
in progress on January 1 of each
year, be rendered for taxation, or
the name of the owner, and value
of the structure be provided
for purposes of having the
property assessed or rendered.
The largest single piece jacket,
708 feet tall, ever constructed was
recently fabricated in the Harbor
Island yard for Chevron, and
barged to a drilling location off
Louisiana. The cost of this jacket,
delivered to location, was said by
Chevron to be $42 million. A
major portion of the jacket was
completed as of January 1, 1979,
according to Zahn.
Water Board president George
Hawn, following the board’s
agreeing to pursue the matter of
collecting taxes on the work in
progress at Brown and Root, said
that money collected from the
effort to have the structures
rendered will be applied to an
equivalent tax rate reduction in
the Water District next year.
The School Board, at press
time, had not met on this issue
but indications are that they will
join in the effort to have the
structures rendered for taxation.
If the work in progress is
rendered and taxed locally, it will
also be subject to County and
State taxation.
The so called “sombrero”, an
inverted funnel designed to cap-
ture the 10,000 barrels of oil still
spewing each day from the blown
out Ixtoc I oil well in the Gulf of
Campeche, was returned to the
Brown and Root fabrication yard
at Harbor Island for repairs on
Sunday.
The unique invention, designed
by Brown and Root and Mexican
engineers, and constructed in
Brown and Root’s Houston and
Harbor Island yards, was barged
to the Mexican well site 50 miles
off the Yucatan coast about three
weeks ago. Attempts to set the
funnel in place over the well in
heavy currents and seas resulted
CPL Wants
Rate Increase
SEE PAGE 2
in damage to a hinge structure
that attaches the funnel to an
anchored jacket on the sea floor.
According to Brown and Root
Harbor Island manager Larry
Stewart, the hinge is being
replaced and some additional
structural work is being done on
the frame that supports the
funnel. He said that the structure
is due to be barged back to the
well location, some 500 miles
south of the U.S. border on
October 10 or 11. and installation
will be attempted again.
Skimmers are reportedly still
working at the Ixtoc well head,
picking up about half of the oil
blowing to the surface. The well
has now spewed well over 2
million barrels of oil onto the
waters of the southern Gulf of
Mexico, making it, by far, the
largest spill on record.
Texas beaches that were hit
with oil in August are now clean
to the extent that there are some
tar balls, but if one did not know
that the beaches had been oil
covered recently, there would be
no visible evidence to indicate
such a situation. Clean-up efforts
are all but ended, and the
operation of the National Re-
sponse Team in the area is
expected to end this month.
Because of the seasonal shift in
Gulf currents, no additional oil
from the leaking well is expected
to drift north into U.S. waters this
fall or winter.
Suits against Pemex. the Mexi-
can National Oil Company; Per-
margo. the private Mexican drill-
ing contractor; and Sedco, the
Texas company that owned the rig
drilling the hole have been filed,
totalling over $J50.000 in dama-
ges to the fishing industry and
tourism industry on the central
and southern Texas coast.
Following the visit of Mexican
president Jose Lopez Portillo to
U.S. president Jimmy Carter last
week, Lopez Portillo told an
estimated crowd of 100.000 greet-
ing him on his return, that Mexico
will not pay any damages caused
by the spill along the U.S.
shoreline. He said. “If the U.S.
government did not pay for
damage to the Mexicali Valley
(caused by salt water in the lower
reaches of the Colorado River),
Mexico will not pay for damage in
the Gulf of Mexico.” Salt beds
formed in the Mexicali Valley in
Mexico a number of years ago
because of saline water flowing
down the Colorado River, after
the water had been used on U.S.
farms. The salt beds rendered
much farm land in northern
Mexico useless for crop raising.
As early as 1972 this was
considered a critical problem by
Mexico in U.S. relations.
Lopez Portillo did indicate that
future environmental pacts be-
tween Mexico and the U.S. were
possible, but there will be no
Mexican payment for the Ixtoc I
oil spill damage.
Ixtoc Well Still Blowing.
Control Device Damaged At Sea
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Frishman, Steve. Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 4, 1979, newspaper, October 4, 1979; Port Aransas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth601553/m1/1/: accessed July 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Ellis Memorial Library.