CHS Golf teams take district Remember to thank a Veteran and Serviceman every day!
Sports, 13
$1.00 Vol. 162, No. 15
coloradocountycitizen.com
24 pages, 2 inserts
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
SKULL CREEK: TWO MONTHS LATER, IN WAKE OF THIRD INCIDENT
COLORADO RIVER at Columbus
BANKFULL
30
FLOOD
34
STAGE
18.96
FLOW
10430
Levels are as of 11:15 a.m. Tuesday, April 9, 2019.
REMINDER: CANDIDATE FORUM TOMORROW
The Colorado County Citizen will conduct a candidate forum for candidates for Columbus ISD Board of Trustees at 6 p.m. in the meeting room of Nesbitt Memorial Library in Columbus. Call 979-7322304 for more information.
FEB. 6: TCEQ takes a complaint alleging Inland Environmental is taking waste without proper permits.
FEB. 8: TCEQ receives a complaint alleging the initial fish kill and foreign substance in Skull Creek.
FEB. 9: TPWD, RRC, and TCEQ make a site visit to conduct an investigation.
FEB. 10: TCEQ says a spiil from Inland was observed downstream of the facility resulting in a fisk kill and that it resulted in an imminent threat of discharge to the Colorado River.
FEB. 1114: TCEQ receives multiple air and water pollution complaints related to the initial contamination incident.
FEB. 12: TCEQ, hand-delivers a letter to Inland Environmental demanding they take immediate action and that they have determined the company to be the party responsible for the contamination in the creek. TCEQ declares contamination at the creek “an imminent threat and substantial endangerment to human health and/or the environment.”
MARCH 7: TCEQ tells The Citizen they are investigating Inland Environmental in connection with contamination in Skull Creek.
MARCH 22: TCEQ receives complaint of a second incident of contamination at Skull Creek.
APRIL 2: TCEQ, RRC, TPWD, OEM officials meet with county officials and provide no answers on water sample results.
STILL NO ANSWERS
FOOD TRUCKS AT CITIZEN THURSDAY
Sandtown Catering will make a return appearance at The Citizen from 10:30 a.m. until 1:45 p.m. Thursday with their award winning barbecue. R&R Shaved Ice will be at The Citizen from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. This week, a portion of proceeds will benefit the Columbus Elementary School Teacher Activity Fund.
e first k after th e re C ll u k S nt and tion incide contamina fish kill.
A turtle secon covered in a d incid n ent at oily, black s ubstan Skull C reek. ce afte r the
Special To The Citizen | Cheryl Dark black wat Rose er flows throug h Skull Creek la last week afte te r the third inci dent of contam tion was report inaed.
AROUND COLUMBUS
Commissioners ok authority to “Conditions ... an imminent threat” to health, environment fight polluters under water code in wake of Skull Creek incidents BY VINCE LEIBOWITZ vince@coloradocountycitizen.com
Quilt up for grabs
A quilt made by the St. Paul Lutheran Church Quilters is one of several items available in a silent auction benefiting the church’s childcare center, 8 AROUND WEIMAR
New Bielau community center seeks land
The New Bielau-Content Community Center asked the Weimar Independent School District Board of Trustees for a gift of land near their existing community center, 16
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality determined as early as Feb. 12 that the substance found in Skull Creek following a Feb. 8 discharge created conditions that “are an imminent threat and substantial endangerment to human health and/or the environment,” according to a letter from a TCEQ official to owners of Inland Recycling, LLC. A copy of the letter, from Houston Regional Office Director Nicole M. Bealle, was obtained by The Colorado Coun-
ty Citizen this week. The letter indicates it was hand delivered to David Polston, owner of the company, on Feb. 12. The letter also deems Inland Recycling as the responsible party for the contamination in the creek, and demands the company take “immediate action” to rectify the incident, saying, “any delay will allow further impacts to human health and the environment.” Inland has previously denied any responsibility for the incident.
■ MEMO, 9
Religious leaders say Christians should advocate for Skull Creek, 18 Clean Harbors worries intensify in wake of TCEQ inaction, ONLINE EXCLUSIVE Environmental leaders say TCEQ’s revolving door failing Colorado County, 10 Damming creek proposed as solution to pollution by Inland, 9 EDITORIAL: Time for immediate Sunset Review for TCEQ, 4 OPINION: Stand up for your rights (or sit down), 4
ARTS & LEISURE
BY VINCE LEIBOWITZ vince@coloradocountycitizen.com
COLUMBUS — In the wake of a third contamination incident at Skull Creek occurring sometime over the weekend, Colorado County Commissioners Monday morning voted unanimously to authorize the county judge to exercise enforcement power available to the county under Chapter 7 of the Texas Water Code following an executive session lasting just under an hour. Chapter 7 of the Texas water code, among other things, allows counties to institute civil suits against those who violate provisions of the water code in the same manner as the authority exercised by
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Counties are not allowed to exercise enforcement powers under the Texas Water Code to remedy violations of either the water code or the Texas Health and Safety Code unless the commissioners court adopts a resolution authorizing the exercise of its enforcement powers. The resolution adopted by the commissioners court allows the exercise of enforcement powers for “past, existing, or future” violations of the Texas Water Code. The resolution authorizes the county judge to take any actions necessary to exercise
■ FIGHT, 9
BORDEN LAKE
State agencies punt jurisdiction High Fashion comes to Live Oak
High fashion came to Live Oak Art Center last week with their fashion show and salad supper, 12 ALSO INSIDE A Look Back ..............................................3 Applause ..................................................5 Around Columbus .....................................8 Around Weimar .......................................16 Around The County ...................................6 Arts & Leisure ..........................................12 Church Page ............................................11 Classified ........................................... 21-22 Courts & Police ........................................17 Obituaries .................................................2 Sports ............................................... 13-15 Viewpoints ...............................................4
Lions say situation seems resolved BY VINCE LEIBOWITZ & MICHELLE BANSE STOKES BORDEN – As state three state agencies punt the issue of which has control of the water at Borden Lake along US 90, the Weimar Lions Club believe they’ve found, at least for the moment, a solution to water being siphoned out of the lake by a private contractor. The Colorado County Citizen learned of the siphoning last Monday afternoon when the newspaper’s publisher noticed a Brenham-based water well drill-
ing company siphoning water from the lake while visiting the roadside park surrounding part of the lake. “I visited with them and we got everything straight between us,” said Julius Bartek, President of the Weimar Lions Club. “He was just misinformed by the person in TxDOT in Columbus,” Bartek said of the private well contractor. “He was thinking it was just a holding pond or collection pond and they could suck water out of there,” Bartek said. Bartek said when the Lions ad-
opted the roadside park through the Texas Depatment of Transportation about a decade ago, the lake was nearly dry. “It was a mud hole. The water wasn’t three foot deep,” he said. He said he and the Lions took heavy equipment in and cleaned out the lake, ensuring it was between 9-12 feet deep in most places. In the fall of 2017, after Hurricane Harvey ravaged much of the South Texas Gulf Coast, the lake was stoked with over 800 fish by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department because the original lakes the fish were destined for had been too damaged by the storm and flooding
in Harvey’s wake. Bartek said officials with Cobra Water Well Drilling, LLC, the Brenham company caught siphoning water out of the lake last week, have agreed to sponsor refreshments for the Weimar Lions Club’s upcoming Kid Fish day in late May. “He’s apologized, he was just under the wrong impression from TxDOT,” he said. Last week, James Untermeyer, maintenance supervisor for TxDOT’s Columbus office admitted to giving the company access to the lake across TxDOT’s rights of way.
■ BORDEN, 7
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