The Collin County Observer™

WATER

Earlier this week, the City of Plano issued a press release informing citizens that the city had, "collected 19 water samples during June, 2010 that contained coliform bacteria." The press release went on to say that some of these positive readings were repeat tests.

The press release went on to say, "This water system is required to submit a minimum of 150 routine water samples each month for bacteriological analysis. Eleven routine samples were coliform-found and eight repeat samples were coliform-found for the month and year indicated above."

Now what is "coliform". According to Wikipedia, "Coliform is the name of a test adopted in 1914 by the Public Health Service for the Enterobacteriaceae family. It is the commonly-used bacterial indicator of sanitary quality of foods and water." I've generally heard the word coliform as part of a two word descriptor, "fecal coliform". Wikipedia also notes that, "Coliforms are abundant in the feces of warm-blooded animals, but can also be found in the aquatic environment, in soil and on vegetation. In most instances, coliforms themselves are the cause of many nosocomial illnesses, they are easy to culture and their presence is used to indicate that other pathogenic organisms of fecal origin may be present."

The city's press release however emphasized that, "No pathogenic organisms (those which cause illness) and no indicators of fecal contamination, such as E.coli or fecal coliform, have been detected."

The state standard is that no more than 5% of sample be positive for coliform. The city's testing failed in over double the allowed standard.

When coliform is found in a sample, the city is required to retest that sample. According to the city, it failed to do so

The City of Plano, along with most of the towns and cities in Collin County, gets all its water from the North Texas Municipal Water District's (NTMWD)treatment plant in Wylie. The most recent water quality report the from NTMWD shows coliform present only in untreated water samples. So far, the NTMWD has not commented publicly on the Plano violations.

The city notes that the problem may not be with the water, but with the testing: "Working with the Plano Health Department and NTMWD, the city completed thorough replications of testing procedures to identify possible sources for the abnormal results. This testing review determined several sites were found to have physical problems that have been corrected. For quality assurance, a private lab and environmental consultant were employed to corroborate results and evaluate our procedures. The private lab results did not verify total coliform bacteria and the consultant recommended procedural changes which have been implemented."

“We are doing everything we can to determine what caused variation in the results. All samples in July and August have been good.”, said Alan Upchurch, Director of Public Works and Engineering.

AIR

Frisco's air quality has been called into question because lead contamination from the local Exide battery recycling factory will cause parts of the city to fail the newest federal EPA standards.

Along with the lead, on some days, Frisco residents are also required to breathe an unhealthy amount of ozone.

According to a health alert issued today by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality:

AIR POLLUTION WARNING - LEVEL ORANGE

OZONE is UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Area Thursday, September 16, 2010, 17:15 CDT

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has issued a LEVEL ORANGE warning for the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. Ozone air pollution levels are rated as UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS based on measurements at the following monitoring site(s)*:

[Collin] County: Frisco C31/C680

Recommended Actions for Ozone Levels Unhealthy For Sensitive Groups (Level Orange):

- Active children and adults as well as people with respiratory disease, such as asthma, should limit prolonged outdoor exertion.

Point your web browser to the following URL to see a map of the current hourly ozone averages for the Dallas-Ft. Worth area:
http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/compliance/monops/select_curlev.pl?region04_cur.gif

This ozone map is updated about 32 minutes after each hour.

High ozone could form or travel to other locations within the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, depending upon wind direction/speed and other factors. Elevated levels of ozone may persist past sunset. No additional Ozone Warnings will be issued unless measured ozone levels are projected to reach 'Level Red - Unhealthy'."

Other warning were issued by the TCEQ today for Grapevine and Denton Airport.

Bill

The North Texas Municipal Water District has begun setting stakes and erecting fencing across critical habitat at the Heard Wildlife Sanctuary in McKinney.

The NTMWD has sued the Heard to allow a half mile long, 110 foot wide swath across the sanctuary to construct a sewer line. The line will significantly impact wetlands and prairie habitat. According to the Heard, "There would be short term and long term damage to the sanctuary including displacing animals that may never return, disrupting native prairie foliage, trees and grasses, contaminating the wetlands, causing a permanent odor, and disturbing the environment for regular maintenance visits and possible emergency situations with the pipeline." The trial is tentatively scheduled to begin on May 9, in the County Court at Law #4.

According to a press release by the Heard:

"The NTMWD has staked and silt fenced the pipeline route through the sanctuary. They intend to put a 42” diameter pipeline 3,500 foot long through the prairie and under the wetlands. At this time, there are several examples of how this is already affecting the wildlife on the sanctuary:

"Two of the bird numerous boxes are currently occupied by nesting birds. The one that is in the picture below has a nesting Carolina Chickadee and these birds are protected by the migratory bird species act. There is also a Carolina Wren that is nesting and protected by the act as well. The Heard has the oldest bird banding program in the state of Texas which started in 1978. More than 25,000 birds have been documented at the Heard. There are a variety of birds that have yet to migrate to the Heard in the next few weeks.

"There are cattle egrets that roost on the sanctuary every year. Yesterday a cattle egret was seen on the road near the Heard's Science Resource Center . They have never been seen there before. This morning there were three more seen in the same area. They are being stressed and disturbed from the construction crew and trucks that have been on the sanctuary and don’t know where to go. Some of the places where they are putting up fencing is closed to the public so these are areas where the wildlife feels safe and they are now being disturbed and confused about where to go.

"There is a plant rescue group right now trying to move native plant species out of the area. These species don’t grow in many other places and the Heard doesn’t want to lose them. They include the New Jersey Tea, Yucca, Ground Plum and False Indigo."

Bill

=====================

Notes:

Preserve the Heard Wildlife Sanctuary website

DMN - Heard museum prepares for court fight, CCO, February, 2010

Eco-terrorism: Collin County style, CCO, December, 2009

Heard museum worried about sewer line planned on property, The Dallas Morning News, December 20, 2009

Panel sides with water district on plans to run sewer line under McKinney's Heard museum, The Dallas Morning News, December 16, 2009

Heard museum in McKinney battles water district over sewer line, The Dallas Morning News, October 29, 2009

Sorry, I couldn't resist the headline:

DMN - The Colony, Frisco settle dispute over sliver of land known as The Finger

Thursday, March 25, 2010
By VALERIE WIGGLESWORTH / The Dallas Morning News

After years of wrangling and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, The Colony will hand over to Frisco a sliver of land known as The Finger.

The 22-acre tract – home to two holes of The Golf Club at Frisco Lakes – has been the subject of a long-running dispute that will end with the property in Frisco's city limits. Frisco also received more than $1 million from The Colony as part of a settlement from a 2004 lawsuit.

Frisco officials say the agreement was about more than money.

"It is the rebuilding of good relations and clearing up of several other matters between our cities that make this an important step for both entities," Frisco Assistant City Manager Ron Patterson said.

City Manager Tony Johnston of The Colony said, "The settlement of the lawsuit has been long-awaited, and we look forward to working together with our neighboring city."

The feud between the two started years ago over two tracts of land west of FM423 known as The Finger and The Lightning Bolt. Both cities claimed the tracts were within their extraterritorial jurisdiction. A district court ruled in Frisco's favor in 1984. But The Colony went ahead and annexed The Finger, according to court records. By the time Frisco found out, it was too late to challenge the move in court.

But Frisco officials didn't forget.

In 1998, The Colony and Frisco contracted with the North Texas Municipal Water District to expand capacity at a wastewater treatment plant in Frisco. The district sold bonds and expanded the plant, while the two cities made payments on the debt.

But when The Colony started making plans to connect to the plant, Frisco refused to grant access through its city. It wanted The Finger and The Lightning Bolt, which The Colony was still claiming as its own.

The Colony found itself having paid toward a wastewater treatment plant it couldn't use. And its own 25-year-old treatment plant needed an upgrade. Environmental regulators had already fined the city $16,000. If it couldn't bring its plant into compliance within two years, more penalties were coming.

So The Colony stopped making payments on the new plant and invested $14 million into expanding its own plant. And it sued the water district and Frisco for breach of contract.

According to court records, the contract didn't address how the wastewater would be delivered to the new plant. The contract guaranteed The Colony only a certain amount of capacity once its wastewater arrived, the courts ruled.

The lawsuit advanced from trial court to the Second District Court of Appeals. Last year, The Colony petitioned for a review by the Texas Supreme Court. In recent months, though, all three entities decided to settle the case and move on.

The $1 million settlement reimburses Frisco for the $642,863 it paid to cover The Colony's share of the plant construction plus interest. The amount also covers Frisco's $208,200 in legal fees on the lawsuit. The water district did not receive reimbursement it requested for an estimated $152,500 in legal fees it incurred in the case. The Colony also surrendered The Finger.

Last year, Frisco gave up its claim to 40 acres known as The Lightning Bolt as part of an unrelated settlement with a developer. The Colony had annexed the jagged-shaped property at the request of Wynnwood Peninsula Partners at the same time that Frisco was initiating annexation on the tract. Wynnwood had sued Frisco to keep the land in The Colony. Frisco agreed....

read the rest of this article at The Dallas Morning News....

Heard museum prepares for court fight

February 26, 2010
The Dallas Morning News McKinney Blog
Ed Housewright/Reporter

The Heard and the North Texas Municipal Water District are still battling over the district's plans to install a sewer line under the museum property.

The Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary offered an alternate route across its 289-acre site. But the water district rejected it.

"Efforts to resolve the dispute ... have failed," the museum says in a news release. "The lawsuit will be set for trial."

The museum and wildlife sanctuary, which opened in 1967, draws more than 100,000 visitors a year.

It fears the sewer line will damage native prairie grassland and wetlands.

The water district says the line poses no environmental damage.

link to the post on The Dallas Morning News McKinney Blog....

======

The Observer Comments:

Good grief...

"The water district says the line poses no environmental damage"

Wow! So the Water District is telling the Wildlife Sanctuary how to protect its habitat.

I assume that now The Heard's environmentalists will feel free to tell the NTMWD how to maintain water pressure.

For more coverage on this issue, see:

Eco-terrorism: Collin County style, CCO, December, 2009

Heard museum worried about sewer line planned on property, The Dallas Morning News, December 20, 2009

Panel sides with water district on plans to run sewer line under McKinney's Heard museum, The Dallas Morning News, December 16, 2009

Heard museum in McKinney battles water district over sewer line, The Dallas Morning News, October 29, 2009

Bill

Frisco city officials fear battery recycler's expansion plan would worsen lead levels

Tuesday, December 22, 2009
By MATTHEW HAAG and VALERIE WIGGLESWORTH / The Dallas Morning News
Staff writer Randy Lee Loftis contributed to this report.

"Frisco conducted a health risk assessment in 1994 and a follow-up in 1995 that focused on three families who lived a few blocks north of the lead smelter and east of the new City Hall. The studies found elevated levels of lead in three children but couldn't conclusively connect them to the plant's emissions."

"'I believe we may have the distinction of having the only wastewater treatment plant in the country that ever produced hazardous waste,' Purefoy said."

Thousands of people in the heart of Frisco are exposed to toxic lead pollution from a battery recycling plant that wants to expand production.

Exide Technologies Inc. operates the decades-old lead smelter that's flanked by Frisco's downtown, a high school and several neighborhoods and businesses. Its lead emissions make Collin County one of only 18 counties nationwide not expected to meet new, more stringent air-quality standards. It is expected to be the only such designation in the south-central United States.

Recent research shows that lead poses a greater risk to people than scientists once thought. And it's especially detrimental to children, who can suffer from learning problems, diminished IQs and brain damage.

Exide, whose plant is not in violation of current air-quality standards, responded to only a few specific questions. Exide also declined a request to make available Don Barar, its plant manager in Frisco.

The company issued a brief statement that said in part: "The desire and intent of Exide Technologies is to operate responsibly and in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements."

Frisco officials object to the production increase and are challenging Exide's plans through a trial-like contested case hearing with state regulators. Their letter to state officials says the expansion "will have a negative impact on the City and its residents."

Late this summer, Exide officials proposed spending more than $1.3 million to reduce the plant's lead air emissions in hopes of moving its application forward. The projects outlined in documents sent to the state would capture so-called fugitive emissions – the lead released through cracks in a building or by vehicle traffic leaving the plant.

But City Manager George Purefoy said, "I don't understand logically how they can increase production and not increase the amount of emissions going out of the stacks."

City grew up with plant

Frisco is in a unique position: Few, if any, burgeoning suburban cities nationwide have a lead smelter in the middle of town.

Gould-National Battery Inc. originally built the plant in 1964 on 55 acres along South Fifth Street with views of rolling prairies. At the time, the city's population was less than 1,900.

But Frisco grew up. Farmland has been eaten up by subdivisions. And the city's population has exploded to more than 106,000.

Exide Technologies acquired the plant in 2000. It's one of nine battery recycling plants worldwide operated by the company based in Milton, Ga. It employs 130 people.

The Frisco plant crushes used automotive and industrial batteries, uses heat to extract the lead and converts it into lead oxide to make recycled batteries. The process releases some of the lead into the environment.

A year ago, Exide submitted a request to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to allow the Frisco plant to break down more batteries. Finished lead production limits would increase to 500 tons a day, up from the current limit of 400 tons a day.

The commission is still reviewing the request. Officials there said they cannot comment on pending permits.

A key question remains unanswered: What impact would a production increase at Exide's plant have on already elevated lead-pollution levels?

In its application to the state, Exide said its production change wouldn't increase the plant's lead emissions, but it didn't offer any evidence.

Exide's 100-page application to Texas regulators didn't include an air modeling study – common in such applications – that estimates lead levels in the air around the smelter.

In addition, the map Exide sent to state regulators to show what's near the plant is so outdated that the Dallas North Tollway isn't listed. Neither are Pizza Hut Park, Frisco Square, Frisco High School and several newer neighborhoods.

Purefoy said the city didn't know about the expansion proposal until after Exide submitted it in October 2008. Later that month, Purefoy fired off an e-mail to Mayor Maher Maso after a meeting with Barar, the plant manager.

"I told him that the city was committed to reducing the emissions falling on our citizens every minute from the plant," Purefoy wrote. "And if Exide wasn't committed to the same goal, then the relationship between the city and Exide was taking a dramatic change of course."

Stricter standards

In November 2008, the EPA gave notice that the federal air-quality standard for lead emissions would become 10 times more stringent – from 1.5 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air to 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter.

"After being quiet for 15 years on the lead front, it's now a priority for the EPA," said Guy Donaldson, chief of the planning section for the agency's Region 6, which covers a five-state area that includes Texas. "It's happening now because the scientific evidence says you have health effects at these levels."

The new standard for lead, which wouldn't be enforced in Collin County until 2012, is the level expected to protect public health.

A monitoring station on Exide's property recorded violations of the 1.5 standard in 1985, 1989 and 1990. The plant, then operated by another company, received violation notices in 1989 and 1990. A year later, the EPA designated the facility a nonattainment area, meaning it violated air-quality standards. The area was declared back in compliance in 1999.

The new proposed nonattainment area is at least twice as big as the one designated in 1991.

'Any exposure is bad'

In recent years, the tools for measuring the effects of lead exposure in people have become more precise, allowing scientists to detect lower levels in blood and measure damage in greater detail.

"Lead is toxic even at the lowest levels we can measure," said Philip Landrigan, an international leader in public health and a pediatrician at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. "Any exposure is bad, but more exposure is worse."

Health effects are particularly acute in children, who breathe in more air than adults relative to their size. Lead exposure can cause learning disabilities, decreased growth, hyperactivity and brain damage.

In adults, high lead levels can contribute to high blood pressure and heart disease. Pregnant women exposed to lead also put their unborn babies at risk.

While lead-poisoning symptoms aren't always apparent, Landrigan said, there could be some underlying health effects. The only way to know for sure is to test the amount of lead in a person's blood, he said.

Frisco conducted a health risk assessment in 1994 and a follow-up in 1995 that focused on three families who lived a few blocks north of the lead smelter and east of the new City Hall. The studies found elevated levels of lead in three children but couldn't conclusively connect them to the plant's emissions.

Purefoy, Frisco's city manager, said last month that he hopes to conduct a larger health study to determine any effects from lead.

read the rest of this informative article on The Dallas Morning News' website....

It's been several years since I first heard of Exide and it's Frisco lead smelter.

I did some research on the plant back in 2006. At that time it was (and still is) the largest point source of hazardous pollution in Collin County.

EPA reports detail releases of Antimony, Lead and Arsenic into the air, ground and water around the plant.

Because of Exide Technologies lead emissions, Frisco has been declared Texas' only non-attainment area for lead pollution. (Map of non-attainment area.) In the non-attainment area are homes and schools.

The TCEQ notes on their "Air Pollution from Lead" web page (which includes a lot of data and facts on the Frisco smelter) that:

"Depending on the level of exposure, lead can adversely affect the nervous system, kidney function, immune system, reproductive and developmental systems and the cardiovascular system. Lead exposure also affects the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood.

The lead effects most commonly encountered in current populations are neurological effects in children and cardiovascular effects (e.g., high blood pressure and heart disease) in adults.

Infants and young children are especially sensitive to even low levels of lead, which may contribute to behavioral problems, learning deficits and lowered IQ. There is no known safe level of lead in the body."

On January 1, 2010, the rest of the country will be required to adopt a new, stricter lead emissions standard from 1.5 micrograms per cubic meter to one tenth that amount. Collin County, however is exempted from the new standards until 2012. A June, 2009 TCEQ memo shows that sampling around the Exide plant is expected to be 1.42 micrograms per cubic meter or nine times the new standard.

When the EPA TCEQ came to Frisco in April of 2009, not one city or county official attended, no citizens showed up either. The report noted that:

"Commission staff appeared in Frisco at 2:00 p.m. on April 20, 2009, to conduct a public hearing on the proposals. Since no member of the public appeared to make comments on either proposal, the commission did not open the public hearing. During the comment period, which closed on April 24, 2009, the commission received two comment letters, both from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)."

Now Exide wants to expand its Frisco operations, and the City of Frisco has begun to take notice.

It's about time.

The Dallas Morning News' Matthew Haag and Valerie Wigglesworth have written a well researched and informative article on this important threat to our children's health.

Bill

------------------------------------

Frisco officials fight plans to expand lead smelter

Sunday, October 18, 2009
By MATTHEW HAAG and VALERIE WIGGLESWORTH / The Dallas Morning News

Thousands of people in the heart of Frisco are exposed to toxic lead pollution from a battery recycling plant that wants to expand production.

Exide Technologies Inc. operates the decades-old lead smelter that's flanked by Frisco's downtown, a high school and several neighborhoods and businesses. Its lead emissions make Collin County one of only 18 counties nationwide not expected to meet new, more stringent air-quality standards. It is expected to be the only such designation in the south-central United States.

Recent research shows that lead poses a greater risk to people than scientists once thought. And it's especially detrimental to children, who can suffer from learning problems, diminished IQs and brain damage.

Exide, whose plant is not in violation of current air-quality standards, responded to only a few specific questions. Exide also declined a request to make available Don Barar, its plant manager in Frisco.

The company issued a brief statement that said in part: "The desire and intent of Exide Technologies is to operate responsibly and in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements."

City of Frisco officials object to the production increase and are challenging Exide's plans through a trial-like contested case hearing with state regulators. Their letter to state officials says the expansion "will have a negative impact on the City and its residents."

Late this summer, Exide officials proposed spending more than $1.3 million to reduce the plant's lead air emissions in hopes of moving its application forward. The projects outlined in documents sent to the state would capture so-called fugitive emissions – the lead released through cracks in a building or by vehicle traffic leaving the plant.

But City Manager George Purefoy said, "I don't understand logically how they can increase production and not increase the amount of emissions going out of the stacks."

City grew up with plant

Frisco is in a unique position: Few, if any, burgeoning suburban cities nationwide have a lead smelter in the middle of town.

Gould-National Battery Inc. originally built the plant in 1964 on 55 acres along South Fifth Street with views of rolling prairies. At the time, the city's population was less than 1,900.

But Frisco grew up. Farmland has been eaten up by subdivisions. And the city's population has exploded to more than 106,000.

Exide Technologies acquired the plant in 2000. It's one of nine battery recycling plants worldwide operated by the company based in Milton, Ga. It employs 130 people

The Frisco plant crushes used automotive and industrial batteries, uses heat to extract the lead and converts it into lead oxide to make recycled batteries. The process releases some of the lead into the environment.

A year ago, Exide submitted a request to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to allow the Frisco plant to break down more batteries. Finished lead production limits would increase to 500 tons a day, up from the current limit of 400 tons a day.

TCEQ is still reviewing the request. Officials there said they cannot comment on pending permits.

A key question remains unanswered: What impact would a production increase at Exide's plant have on already elevated lead-pollution levels?

In its application to the state, Exide said its production change wouldn't increase the plant's lead emissions, but it didn't offer any evidence.

Exide's 100-page application to Texas regulators didn't include an air modeling study – common in such applications – that estimates lead levels in the air around the smelter.

In addition, the map Exide sent to state regulators to show what's near the plant is so outdated that the Dallas North Tollway isn't listed. Neither are Pizza Hut Park, Frisco Square, Frisco High School and several newer neighborhoods.

Purefoy said the city didn't know about the expansion proposal until after Exide submitted it in October 2008. Later that month, Purefoy fired off an e-mail to Mayor Maher Maso after a meeting with Barar, the plant manager.

"I told him that the city was committed to reducing the emissions falling on our citizens every minute from the plant," Purefoy wrote. "And if Exide wasn't committed to the same goal then the relationship between the city and Exide was taking a dramatic change of course."

Stricter standards

In November 2008, the EPA gave notice that the federal air-quality standard for lead emissions would become 10 times more stringent – from 1.5 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air to 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter.

"After being quiet for 15 years on the lead front, it's now a priority for the EPA," said Guy Donaldson, chief of the planning section for the agency's Region 6, which covers a five-state area that includes Texas. "It's happening now because the scientific evidence says you have health effects at these levels."

The new standard for lead, which wouldn't be enforced in Collin County until 2012, is the level expected to protect public health.

A monitoring station on Exide's property recorded violations of the 1.5 standard in 1985, 1989 and 1990. The plant, then operated by another company, received violation notices in 1989 and 1990. A year later, the EPA designated the facility a nonattainment area, meaning it violated air-quality standards. The area was declared back in compliance in 1999.

The new proposed nonattainment area is at least twice as big as the one designated in 1991.

'Any exposure is bad'

In recent years, the tools for measuring the effects of lead exposure in people have become more precise, allowing scientists to detect lower levels in blood and measure damage in greater detail.

"Lead is toxic even at the lowest levels we can measure," said Philip Landrigan, an international leader in public health and a pediatrician at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. "Any exposure is bad, but more exposure is worse."

Health effects are particularly acute in children, who breathe in more air than adults relative to their size. Lead exposure can cause learning disabilities, decreased growth, hyperactivity and brain damage.

In adults, high lead levels can contribute to high blood pressure and heart disease. Pregnant women exposed to lead also put their unborn babies at risk.

While lead-poisoning symptoms aren't always apparent, Landrigan said, there could be some underlying health effects. The only way to know for sure is to test the amount of lead in a person's blood, he said.

Frisco conducted a health risk assessment in 1994 and a follow-up in 1995 that focused on three families who lived a few blocks north of the lead smelter and east of the new City Hall. The studies found elevated levels of lead in three children but couldn't conclusively connect them to the plant's emissions.

Purefoy, Frisco's city manager, said last month that he hopes to conduct a larger health study to determine any effects from lead.

Shift in relations

Exide officials have told Texas environmental regulators that a production increase won't cause a jump in lead emissions. Yet, California air-quality regulators overseeing an Exide plant near Los Angeles say production is directly tied to emissions.

Last year, they ordered the Exide plant there to cut its production almost in half to reduce lead pollution.

"It was a very quick-acting measure to make sure the lead levels were reduced immediately," said Sam Atwood, spokesman for California's South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Federal data from 2007 show the California plant's overall lead emissions were less than those from the Frisco plant. But weather patterns, smokestack heights and other variables can determine how lead emissions affect the surrounding air quality.

Frisco's request for a contested case hearing on Exide's application requires the company to address the city's issues in a formal setting.

The legal standoff represents a shift in relations between the city and the plant.

"Every time we found an issue, a problem, in the past, they have always stepped up and taken care of it," Purefoy said.

In 1992, for example, after it was found that battery pieces had been used as fill decades earlier in building a parking lot, company officials worked with the city to clean up the contaminated material. And later, when contaminated water from the plant's operations made its way to the city's Stewart Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, the company took responsibility for containment and cleanup.

"I believe we may have the distinction of having the only wastewater treatment plant in the country that ever produced hazardous waste," Purefoy said.

The wastewater treatment plant was closed in the late 1990s. But some areas at the plant recently have tested positive for lead and cadmium. The city wants Exide to pay the $400,000 to $500,000 in cleanup costs.

read more.....

In 2000 I spent some time up near the Great Lakes and I saw first hand the destruction caused by these small mollusks.

They had only appeared in the lakes about 10 years before, but in that time they had spread to cover every single rope, buoy, dock and water intake in Lake Erie. According to Wikipedia, the cost to US water and power plants alone is over $500 million.

Last year a few Zebra mussels were found in Lake Texoma - now they have been detected in Sister Grove Creek which is used by the NTMWD to transfer water from Texoma to Lake Lavon. It would seem that the most important water source in the region is now threatened by this invasive mussel that is native to south east Russia.

According to the Dallas Morning News article below, Zebra mussels, "may now be permanent Texas residents."

Bill

=============================

Zebra mussels seen as threat to Dallas-area lakes

Thursday, August 20, 2009
By ED HOUSEWRIGHT / The Dallas Morning News

For a tiny critter, the zebra mussel can cause huge problems.

The fingernail-size bivalves, new to these parts, have taken up residence in Lake Texoma and likely moved south into Lavon Lake, according to state officials.

Zebra mussels clog water pipes, endanger fish by gobbling up their food supply, attach to boats like magnets and line beaches with their razor-sharp edges.

Worse, they multiply at a dizzying rate, and no one knows how to eradicate them.

"I've learned more about them than I ever cared to learn," said Heath McLane, Lavon Lake manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the North Texas Municipal Water District share his concern.

State biologists have placed testing devices in Lavon Lake to check for zebra mussels, named for their striped, yellow-brown shells. On Monday, officials plan to take water samples to check for microscopic larvae, which mature into the pesky mussels.

"While we have no proof, we feel certain zebra mussels are in Lake Lavon," said Bruce Hysmith, inland fisheries biologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife.

He works at Lake Texoma, where zebra mussels were first spotted in the water on April 3. Earlier this month, mussels were detected about 25 miles south in Sister Grove Creek, which feeds into Lavon Lake.

The Texas Municipal Water District has stopped pumping water from Lake Texoma into Lavon Lake, the largest drinking water source in North Texas. It supplies water to 1.5 million people in 60 towns, including Plano, McKinney, Frisco, Richardson, Garland and Mesquite.

The water district will study ways to remove zebra mussels if they attach to pipes leading into its treatment plant, said spokeswoman Denise Hickey. Any larvae sucked into the plants would be killed by the treatment process and won't contaminate the water supply, she said.

"We will be taking to our board of directors a recommendation for an engineering consulting contract," Hickey said. "They will work with us if any [zebra mussels] are found and what strategies we need to do."

On the lookout

After water leaves Lavon Lake, it drains into the Trinity River Basin, which extends to the Gulf of Mexico.

Zebra mussels, first seen in the Great Lakes in the late 1980s, may now be permanent Texas residents. They can grow to more than an inch long and survive outside of water for several days.

read more....

It was only last February that the Dallas Morning News was predicting drought in North Texas. In an article titled, New drought blooming: Dry spell expected to persist, intensify in North Texas, the News noted that Collin County ",farmer Butch Aycock says stock tanks are drying up and winter wheat is lagging, limiting livestock grazing and forcing herds to hay. 'It's not a big issue in the area yet,' he said of the blooming drought."

But that was in February. Three months later it's a different story. The Dallas Observer's blog "Unfair Park" took notice that farmer Aycock was featured in an article published yesterday in the Southwest Farm Press bemoaning disastrous 2009 wheat and corn crops due in part to "too much rain".

The Southwest Farm Press quotes Aycock, “I’ve never had a year with this high percentage of acreage lost. About 300 of the 3,000 acres of wheat will make a decent yield. Another 2,000 acres will suffer more than a 60 percent loss and some of that is 100 percent gone. And about 400 acres will be at a 40 percent to 50 percent loss.”

“We’ve had 14 inches of rain since Easter Sunday,” Aycock said. “They don’t report that on the evening news, but that’s what we pour out of our rain gauges. We had a lot of sidedress applications we needed that we just couldn’t get done. We had too much rain to get into the fields. It’s a big wreck.”

Bill

After all the rain this spring, Lake Lavon is full.

This weekend we saw a sight we haven't seen in quite a while - 8 of the 12 flood gates at the Lavon Dam were open and releasing about 3,000 cfs.

Local fishermen and the City of Dallas love it when the Lavon gates are open. (I confess I too love the noise and sights.) The water from Lavon travels downstream on the East Fork of the Trinity river for a few miles before entering Dallas' Lake Ray Hubbard.

I took my grandson to see the action behind the dam. Here are a couple of cell phone pics taken during Saturday's rain storms:

"Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger." Saint Basil

The recent torrential rains may have wrecked your weekend cookout, but they were great for the region's water supply.

For the first time since June of last year, both lakes that are the primary sources of water for the North Texas Municipal Water District are at planned capacity (full, but not in flood conditions).

Early this morning, Lake Lavon rose past 492' above sea level, which is its normal conservation pool capacity.

Lake Chapman, in east Texas is also at its normal capacity and is releasing water from its dam.

The NTMWD also can draw water from Lake Tawakoni and Lake Texoma. Tawakoni is still 3' low, but Lake Texoma is over 7' above conservation pool - the Eisenhower Dam open and releasing 10,000 cfm (cubic feet per minute of water).

Bill

It put a tear in my eye reading that the McKinney city council has named a park along Wilson Creek after my friend Bonnie Wenk.

Bonnie was both passionate and gentle, a southern lady who loved the water and the trees and her fellow man. She worked for many years to protect and preserve the creeks, dams and lakes that make up much McKinney's green space.

I know she would be honored to see the Bonnie Wenk Park along Wilson Creek.

Bill

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McKinney City Council picks a name for the Wilson Creek greenway site.

Thursday, March 5, 2009
By Katie Knickerbocker, McKinney Courier-Gazette

Choosing names is often a difficult process but McKinney City Council members were all in agreement at the council meeting Tuesday March 3. They voted unanimously to name the Wilson Creek greenway site after late McKinney resident Bonnie Wenk.

District 1 Representative Gilda Garza said it was her honor and privilege to make the motion approving the Parks Board recommendation to name the site Bonnie Wenk Park.

Wenk was an environmental activist, teacher and writer, Garza said, as well as a member of the East Side Coalition, LULAC and the NAACP. She also worked on the 2003 Strategic Plan.

Marta Gore referred to Wenk as “an awesome unsung hero” during citizen comments at the start of the meeting. Wenk’s family was in attendance and gave comments after the motion passed.

“I cannot tell you how thankful I am to the park board and to the city council,” daughter Julia Shahid said. “Our family is extremely proud tonight.”

Shahid, a professor at Austin College, said she was in Malaysia on a trip with students when she was informed of the proposal to honor her mother. She said she was elated, honored and just blown away that someone thought that much of her mother.

“Her number one interest was environmental issues whether it had to do with the trees, whether it had to do with water, and the fact is, my mother, my daughter and myself, we were all involved in monitoring the water in Wilson Creek so this is really so perfect,” Shahid said.

Wenk's son Jack Wenk told the council he thinks the new name is something his mother would be very proud of.

Garza said the plans for Bonnie Wenk Park include a dog park, climbing boulders and open spaces for soccer/lacrosse among other amenities.

read article....

The Center for American Progress has issued a report listing the nation's 101 most dangerous chemical facilities.

The report titled, Chemical Security 101,What You Don’t Have Can’t Leak, or Be Blown Up by Terrorists, placed The North Texas Municipal Water District's Wylie plant on the list because it uses and stores large amounts of chlorine gas.

According to the CAP report, the Wylie plant puts over 2 million people at risk in case of a major accident, sabotage or terrorist attack.

Chlorine is a greenish-yellow gas with a strong, irritating odor. It is heavier than air, meaning a release plume would travel across the ground, putting a large area at risk.

The federal Center for Disease Control (CDC) notes that when "liquid chlorine is released, it quickly turns into a gas that stays close to the ground and spreads rapidly."

Chlorine is used in making other chemicals, as a disinfectant, in bleaching, and for purifying water and sewage. Acute exposure can severely burn the eyes and skin, causing permanent damage, and may cause throat irritation, tearing, coughing, nose bleeds, chest pain, fluid buildup in the lungs (pulmonary edema), and death. Chronic exposure can damage the teeth and irritate the lungs, causing bronchitis, coughing, and shortness of breath. A single high exposure can permanently damage the lungs.

The NTMWD uses large amounts of chlorine to purify drinking water. The chlorine generally is delivered to Wylie by rail tanker cars on lines that run through residential communities.

Chlorine: A terrorist's weapon?

• Chlorine gas is so deadly it was used by as a poison gas chemical weapon by German forces in WWI.
• Iraqi insurgents have blown up tanker trucks of chlorine to attack American and coalition forces.
• Wikipedia lists 13 cases of chlorine gas bombings by insurgents in Iraq.
• Last year a 300# tank of chlorine was stolen from a water purification plant in Montgomery County.

The CAP notes that, "Homeland Security and numerous security experts have repeatedly warned that terrorists could use industrial chemicals as improvised weapons of mass destruction. Current chemical security efforts, however, are inadequate to protect workplaces and communities.

"Indeed, temporary standards enacted two years ago (and set to expire in 2009) focus almost entirely on physical security measures, such as adding gates and guards. These measures, however worthy, cannot assure protection against a concerted attack, insider sabotage, or catastrophic release. Nor do they protect communities along chemical delivery routes. More than 90 percent of the 101 most dangerous facilities ship or receive their highest-hazard chemical by railcar or truck."

In 2005, 9 men were killed and over 500 injured by a poisonous cloud of chlorine gas was released after a train wreck in South Carolina.

According to the CAP report, the NTMWD could lower the danger level by replacing chlorine gas with liquid bleach or by generating bleach on-site, with ozone or ultraviolet light as appropriate.

According to information on its website (dated, 2005), the NTMWD is engaged in, "A preliminary engineering study for the utilization of ozonation as a primary disinfectant at the NTMWD Water Treatment Plants has been authorized by the NTMWD Board of Directors to meet the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Stage 2 Disinfection Byproducts rules effective 2012."

I understand that since that website was posted, the NTMWD has committed to using ozone to replace much of it's chlorine.

Bill

Notes:

Chemical Security 101, What You Don’t Have Can’t Leak, or Be Blown Up by Terrorists, The Center for American Progress, November, 2008

Map showing locations for the 101 most dangerous chemical facilities

The Center for American Progress website

North Texas Municipal Water District website

Lawsuit ruling edges Tarrant, Dallas districts closer to Oklahoma water supply

Monday, October 27, 2008
By RUDOLPH BUSH / The Dallas Morning News

North Texas' quest to tap Oklahoma water as a major source of future supply took an important step forward Monday, thanks to a ruling from a federal appellate court.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled that a lawsuit filed by the Tarrant Regional Water District may proceed in federal court in Oklahoma.

If the suit is successful, the Tarrant water district will have the same ability to apply for water rights as any local entity in Oklahoma.

Such rights are viewed as critical to North Texas water planners who have long viewed Oklahoma water as the best possible solution to this region's rapidly growing water needs.

Water from Oklahoma not only would be relatively cheap to bring south, but it is so plentiful that North Texas communities wouldn't have to worry about finding or building more sources of water for decades and possibly longer.

Yet, Oklahoma has closely guarded what officials there view as a treasured local resource needed for that state's future growth.

Efforts to purchase or seek transfer of water south have been blocked by a series of laws and rulings, including a statewide moratorium against moving water out of Oklahoma.

In the case of the Tarrant Regional Water District, the Oklahoma Water Resource Board pushed to have the suit dismissed on several grounds.

But last year, U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton ruled that Tarrant Regional's claim could proceed on several grounds, including the argument that the Oklahoma moratorium is an unconstitutional violation of interstate commerce.

Monday's ruling upheld his decision, which was widely viewed as looking favorably on Tarrant Regional's claims.

The appellate court's decision was greeted at Tarrant Regional on Monday as not only a legal victory but as a welcome bit of leverage to encourage Oklahoma authorities to negotiate the sale of water.

If Oklahoma loses in court, Tarrant Regional could secure water at little or no cost. But if a sale were negotiated prior to trial, the water district has indicated it would be less likely to push its claims in court.

"The time for negotiating is running out," said Wayne Owen, planning director for Tarrant Regional.

Charlie Price, spokesman for the Oklahoma attorney general's office, said simply that attorneys there were aware of the ruling and were advising the state's water agencies on the matter.

Monday's ruling came on the heels of an announcement Friday that Tarrant Regional has entered into a groundbreaking agreement with Dallas Water Utilities and the North Texas Municipal Water District.

Under the agreement, the water suppliers would share in some 460,000 acre-feet of Oklahoma water each year. They would also share in the cost of building some $2 billion to $3 billion in infrastructure to bring water south.

read more....