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TEXAS A&M TRANSPORTATION STUDY
NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO
More severe crashes
Troops kill three gunmen
Link found between drilling activity and accidents By JENNIFER HILLER SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
The march of shale drilling across Texas has meant an increase in the number and severity of vehicle crashes in the state’s biggest oil fields. A new study from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute links the upswing in oil drilling with vehicle crashes in the state’s major fields, the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas and the Permian Basin in West Texas. It also shows a decline in natural gas drilling in the Barnett Shale in North Texas led to a drop in vehicle crashes there. The study’s lead author said the relationship between drilling and accidents was so clear that it’s predictive. This year’s low crude oil prices and diminished drilling mean accidents should taper in the 400mile oil field north of Laredo. “If the price of oil stays low, chances are you’ll see something similar to what happened in the Barnett Shale,” said lead author Cesar Quiroga, senior research engineer and manager at the Transportation Institute’s San Antonio
By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
The number of new wells rose 161 percent. “What you can say is that five years ago in the Eagle Ford there was no industry other than agricultural,” said Quiroga. “What kind of industry appeared in the region? It
Mexican troops shot and killed three suspected gunmen during a gunfight that resulted in the closure of main avenues Monday morning in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, the city’s mayor posted on his Facebook page. Tamaulipas authorities did not identify those who died but said they were in their 20s. Reports state the gunmen belonged to a criminal group operating in that border city. Mayor Carlos Canturosas used social media to inform the community of the violent incidents reported Monday and Saturday. Regarding Monday’s shootout, Canturosas said soldiers encountered a group of armed men traveling in Chevrolet Silverado at about 9:30 a.m. at Bulevar Paseo Colón and Avenida César López de Lara. Soldiers said they killed three suspects. Authorities shutdown Reforma and César López de Lara avenues to secure the scene, causing traffic congestion. Mexico’s attorney general’s office personnel seized three assault rifles, clips with live rounds, ammo, tactical equipment and the Silverado. “To all citizens, I inform you that these intensive operations will continue in different areas of Nuevo Laredo. Everything possible is
See CRASHES PAGE 10A
See KILL PAGE 10A
Photo by Bob Owen | San Antonio Express-News file
Oil and gas industry trucks crowd the intersections in Carrizo Springs’ Highways 83 and 85, near the fast food restaurants that have become very crowded with oil field workers in this Feb. 19, 2014 file photo. office. “The number of crashes will reduce substantially in the Eagle Ford Shale.” The study compared two periods of time, 2006 to 2009 — the years just before a boom in oil drilling took off in the Eagle Ford and Permian Basin — and 2010 to 2013, when the oil drilling bonanza was at
a peak, but gas drilling in the Barnett went into decline. The changes were most dramatic for commercial vehicles involved in crashes in rural areas. In the Eagle Ford, the number of commercial vehicle crashes in rural areas increased 61 percent, to 4,542.
ZAPATA HIGH SCHOOL
MEXICO
Students to test vital signs of Rio Grande
ERASING THE BORDER
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
Artist paints fence blue By VALERIA FERNANDEZ
Zapata High School is one of nearly 70 schools from Colorado to Texas and Mexico participating in a water testing project along the Rio Grande. On Wednesday, student teams will gather at diverse points along the Rio GrandeRio Bravo watershed to measure vital signs of the river and its tributaries. Teams will begin testing at the river’s headwaters in Colorado, and end some 2,000 miles downstream where the river empties into the Gulf of Mexico near Boca Chica Beach, Texas and Matamoros, Mexico. The 6th annual award-winning Rio Research Roundup is part of the 21st annual Dia del Rio celebration. During the roundup, students will measure various water quality parameters. They will also create 90-second videos, artwork and essays. This
ASSOCIATED PRESS
“snapshot” of river data could serve as a model for watersheds on every continent.
NOGALES, Mexico — Armed with sky-blue paint, artist Ana Teresa Fernández began to “erase” the border fence that splits up Mexico and the U.S. on Tuesday. Fernández, who was born in Mexico but raised in San Diego, is leading an effort to paint the border fence in Nogales, Sonora, so blue that it blends with the sky, rendering it nearly invisible. Nogales sits on the border with Nogales, Arizona. Fernández solicited the help of about 30 volunteers who helped paint. “This wall has be-
See RIO PAGE 10A
See BORDER PAGE 10A
The Zapata Times file photo
Ivette Alfaro conducts a water test at the TAMIU Pond in 2012.
Photo by Valeria Fernandez | AP
Artist Ana Teresa Fernandez paints the Sonora border fence blue to "lower the sky" as part of the art installation, "Borrando la Frontera," or "Erasing the Border," in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday.