Friday, May 28, 2010

Texas Gulf Waits & Worries


LAPORTE -- Richard Arnhart spends much of his days monitoring wind trajectories, scientific bulletins and TV newscasts.

Parts of an oily blob three times the size of Rhode Island -- and growing -- are believed by many experts to be lumbering closer to the Texas Gulf, and Arnhart is part of the first line of defense.
As a regional director for the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Program in the Texas General Land Office, Arnhart is paid by the state to fight oil spills, and he's heavily involved in state and federal contingency planning for any possible impact on Texas from the massive oil spill lurking in the Gulf of Mexico.

Communities all along the Texas coast are making similar preparations as they join the rest of the world in tracking daily developments in one of the worst oil spill disasters in history.
No one knows for sure if remnants of the spill, which was about 160 miles east of the Lone Star State late last week, will reach Texas waters. The consensus seems to be that if there is an impact it will be in the form of tar balls or a frothy substance resembling chocolate mousse. Experts don't expect any residue to hit this far west for several weeks.

Beyond that, just what threat the spill poses for a region of the state whose economy and culture is tied to the gulf is difficult to gauge. Environmentalists warn of possibly irreversible damage to the state's fragile ecosystems and endangered wildlife. Others worry about potential losses to fishing and tourism, though local officials say they have yet to see any signs of an economic backlash.
"It's going to have an impact one way or another," said state Rep. Aaron Pena, D-Edinburg, chairman of the state House Select Committee on Emergency Preparedness, which has scheduled a Monday hearing in McAllen to examine Texas preparations for the spill. "We swim in that ocean. We eat the food that comes out of that ocean. It's part of our [committee's] charge to be prepared for emergencies, and this is certainly an emergency that Texas should be prepared for."
'No news is good news'

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, whose office would be in charge of fighting residue from the spill and enforcing the cleanup, took steps late last week to calm fears about the oil slick.

"We're watching and waiting, but it's just not time to go to general quarters," said Patterson, who is scheduled to testify at Monday's hearing. "No news is good news."

Patterson sought to dispel TV reports that tar balls from the spill are already showing up on Texas beaches. Although tar balls occasionally wash ashore along the Texas Gulf, they may be decades old and could come from natural seepage or earlier spills, the land office said. An analysis on tar balls collected from Jamaica Beach on Galveston Island last week proved conclusively that the substance did not come from the oil slick in the gulf, said Cmdr. David Berliner of the Coast Guard.
Nevertheless, an out-of-control underwater gusher dumping more than thousands of barrels of oil into the gulf each day is impossible for Texans to ignore. Houston area residents watching TV last week, for example, might have seen ads aired by attorney Jim Adler offering his service to victims of the spill.

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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Man shot, killed at NW Houston apartment complex



Police are investigating the shooting death of man at an apartment complex early this morning in northwest Houston.

The shooting occurred in the 5300 block of Deep Forest about 12:52 a.m. Tuesday, police said.
The 34-year-old victim, whose name has not been released, was found seated in a car in the complex parking lot. He had been shot more than once and was pronounced dead at the scene.
No other injuries were reported.
Police said apartment residents heard several gunshots, found the man dead and saw a black man running from the scene and get into car, that then sped away. No description of the man running away was available.

Police said investigators have no motive or suspects in the shooting.
Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact the Houston Police Department Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

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Monday, May 17, 2010

Oil spill threatens already weakened wetlands


by Brad Woodard / 11 News
khou.com


Crews depart with giant box to help Gulf oil leak
With millions of gallons of oil already in the gulf and massive underwater plumes that could poison and suffocate sea life across the food chain, experts say the damage from the spill could endure for a decade or more. For Galveston, however, the picture isn't quite as bleak.

"There may be some kind of effect coming this way, some little tarballs, but we'd be talking about almost three weeks into the future, which gives it more time to break up. More time to sink," said Peter Davis, chief of the Island's Beach Patrol.

If Davis doesn't seem overly concerned, it's because he's seen it all before.

"I've worked here for almost 30 years, and before that I was on the beach all the time," says Davis. "I remember in the 80s when there was less regulation; there was tar around a lot more."

Long before the Deepwater Horizon explosion, in fact, long before offshore drilling, tarballs were washing up on Texas beaches. The state estimates as much as a million barrels of crude oil leaked into the gulf through natural seepage in just the last year.

Although the coast is clear in Galveston, at least for the moment, some business owners along the seawall worry all the news surrounding the spill with scare off tourists.

"They don't know if there is oil or no oil," says Izzy Wolraich, the owner of four businesses on the Island. "And we know there's no oil.

There're afraid about poisoned fish and dirty water, but there's not a panic yet."

And that's what he fears the most.

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Thursday, May 13, 2010

Fire damages apartments


by khou.com staff
khou.com
Posted on May 12, 2010 at 6:53 PM
Updated today at 7:04 AM
HOUSTON -- Two dozen apartment units were damaged in a fire at a north Houston complex Wednesday afternoon.
Authorities said the fire started just after 5 p.m. on the third floor of the Driscoll Place apartments off Gears Road.
No injuries were reported.
Arson investigators were working to determine the cause of the fire.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Pedestrian killed by truck in NW Harris County



By DALE LEZON Copyright 2010 HOUSTON CHRONICLE
May 11, 2010, 9:27AM
A pedestrian was killed when a pickup hit him as he crossed a street in northwest Harris County late last night.

The man was hit in the 8000 block of FM 2920 about 11:20 p.m. Monday, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

The man, who has not been identified, died at the scene.
Deputies said the man was crossing the road from south to north when a 2008 Toyota Tacoma traveling westbound on FM 2920 hit him.

The pedestrian did not yield the right of way to the truck, deputies added.
The case is still being investigated. No charges have been filed at this time.

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