Sunday, June 29, 2014
The Baytown Sun Vol. 94, No. 125 © 2014 • Since 1922
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Covering East Harris County, Chambers
County and Southwest Liberty County
www.baytownsun.com
One moment can change your life: Angel’s story When the policeman called for backup, I knew – ‘I’m in trouble’
By Mark Fleming mark.fleming@baytownsun.com
Ten years ago today, an item in the Police Beat column in The Baytown Sun told about a 24-year-old woman who was arrested for aggravated assault in the 1200 block of Miriam following a standoff with police. The woman was in a vehicle threatening to kill herself – the article noted Angel Curry she held a gun to her own head during
part of the standoff. That woman – then Angel Henry, now Angel Curry – visited The Baytown Sun this week to share what came next. “I felt like this would be the end of my new beginning,” she said. Early on, she said, her life was on a good track. She had two children and a
good job working for the federal court. She had never been in trouble with the law. Then things started going wrong. “I was in the middle of a really ugly separation.” The day before her arrest, Curry said, the ex-girlfriend of the man Curry was dating blocked her in so she could
not leave her apartment and turned off her power. Curry, who had her daughter with her, said she was scared and pulled a gun on the woman and the people she had brought with her. The police were called, but Curry wasn’t arrested then. see ANGEL • Page 3A
San Jacinto Waste Pits City to annex subdivisions north of I-10 By Eleska Aubespin eleska.aubespin@baytownsun.com
Baytown Sun photo
Interstate-10 traffic zooms across the San Jacinto Bridge where the San Jacinto Waste Pits Superfund Site is located. Underneath a large man-made cap lies dioxins that are both toxic and cancer-causing.
Company consultant makes case for a permanent cap over Superfund site By Mark Fleming mark.fleming@baytownsun.com
The consultant working for the companies responsible for remediating the San Jacinto Waste Pits Superfund Site was in Baytown Friday to explain why the companies believe the best way to prevent further contamination from the waste pits is to improve the now-temporary cap on the site to permanently seal the buried pollutants in place. David Keith, principal scientist with Anchor QEA, said his company conducted the feasibility study that is now being considered by the Environmental Protection Agency. The remediation report, available on the EPA website, outlines six alternatives for moving forward with cleanup, ranging from the alternative of doing nothing to the alternative of fully removing the contaminated material from the site. Speaking Friday, Keith said he would like to see EPA select what is known in the remediation proposal
as Option 3, which would involve upgrading the existing cap on the site but not removing the toxic materials. Keith explained that there are two impoundment areas in the site, referred to as the northern and southern impoundment. The northern impoundment (actually northwest of the other) is the area closer to Channelview. The southern impoundment, now largely submerged, is closer to the main channel of the San Jacinto River. “Even before there was an order with the EPA,” Keith said, “we went to EPA and said we’d like to stabilize the northern impoundments.” What resulted was a Time Critical Removal Action – an EPA-approved plan to quickly address the issue. Keith said that, despite the name, the TCRA does not necessarily involve removal of the material, but in this case was the installation of the current cap. Usually a cleanup takes place after a full study is conducted.
“Sometimes they’ll do an early action, for instance if there’s a source issue you need to take care of right away.” The objectives, he said, were to 1. Stabilize the site to withstand a 100-year flood event 2. Prevent direct contact with materials 3. Prevent direct contact with water or land organisms 4. Make the temporary site consistent with whatever long-term solution might be selected. The current cap is referred to as an “armored” cap – the fabric and membrane that seal in the material are then protected by layers of rock. The design of the cap, he said, is built to standards provided by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers. “The key thing is that you want to put material out there that is going to stay and be stable,” Keith said. “You don’t want something that’s going to see PITS • Page 3A
Plans are in the works to build a 300 single-family home subdivision north of Interstate 10, between North Main and Sjolander Road. Also planned, as part of the development, is commercial property fronting Wallisville Road. Baytown City Council has agreed to begin the annexation process of the 81.5-acre site. Annexation is being requested in order to extend city utilities to the site, which is owned by Nasir Panjwani, president of South Houston Realty Co. Panjwani submitted the request. “There is a number of housing developments going through the process now and this is just one of them,” Baytown Deputy City Manager Ron Bottoms said. Down the street is a separate proposal to build a subdivision at the northwest corner of Wallisville and Garth roads. Council also approved
the annexation and rezoning of that property for a 490-home subdivision and commercial center at the 114-acre tract. With annexation into Councilman Brandon Capetillo’s District No. 3, the city can extend utilities to the property. Following the vote on annexation, council then rezoned nearly 112 acres from an Open Space/Recreation District to a General Commercial District and a Mixed Residential at Low to Medium Densities District. According to the applicant, Sowell Wallisville Partners, L.P., that plan would also include a commercial center, possibly with a convenience store and gas station. South of I-10, a developer who wants to turn the Goose Creek Country Club and its golf course into a single-family development is also going through the process to get it done. That developer, Meritage Homes, has sought rezoning for 132.5 acres and wants to see city • Page 3A
5 inches of rain in week This week’s thunderstorms brought nearly 5 inches of rain to Baytown. So far, Baytown has received almost 8 inches of rainfall this month. Statewide Texans got more rain in May (4.03 inches) than normal, and June is on track to also surpass its normal of 3.44 inches. Texas is in better shape drought-wise when com-
pared to 2011, the state’s driest year ever. More than 72 percent the state was in exceptional drought, the driest category, at the end of June 2011. May and June are the state’s wettest months in Texas. Now come the dog days of summer, which forecasters are saying won’t be nearly as hot as 2011. — Christopher James
Texas A&M to honor 1944 REL grad By Christopher James christopher.james@baytownsun.com
Texas A&M University is honoring C. Ray Holbrook Jr., a 1944 graduate of Robert E. Lee High School, with the highest honor the university bestows to alumni. The Association of Former Students will honor Holbrook and 11 other recipients during its annual Distinguished Alumni Gala with the Distinguished Alumni Award on Oct. 10 as well as be recognized during the Texas A&M football game against the University of Mississippi on Oct. 11. “It’s a great honor to be receiving this prestigious award,” Holbrook said. “Especially since the other two people to get the awards from Galveston are
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George Mitchell and Admiral Robert Smith. I’m in good company with those two.” Recipients were surprised in their places of business and other locations by a group of university and associaHOLBROOK tion representatives, including Texas A&M Interim President Dr. Mark Hussey, with he news of their achievement. “A group of people with the Association of Former Students came in with cameras and lights announcing that I was going to receive the award while I was at the Sul Ross group meeting with my family,” Holbrook said. “It was a big thrill and an honor when they told Join our Facebook Page
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me the news.” While at Robert E. Lee, Holbrook played trombone in the marching band and was a standout in track-in-field. After graduation, Holbrook attended Texas A&M where he received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in chemical engineering. He was a part of the Corps of Cadets, the Aggie Band and student government. Holbrook also won four REL varsity track letters, won several conference championships and was a member of the 1948 national-championship mile relay team. Baytown Sun file photo In his professional life, Holbrook served in the Navy for a year and a half Texas A&M is honoring C. Ray Holbrook Jr., a 1944 before beginning a career as an engineer graduate of Robert E. Lee High School and track star, with the highest honor the university bestows see HONOR • Page 3A to alumni –the Distinguished Alumni Award.
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