Brazos River Testing - Brazoria County, Texas

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gw...@joiapictures.com

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Jul 19, 2016, 11:14:42 AM7/19/16
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Hi all, 

I'm really excited to connect with you all after recently learning about the great work you're doing around the Gulf Coast! 

The other week I jumped onto my first Open Call to learn a bit more and it seems like what we're trying to do is beyond Public Lab's current scope, but reaching out anyway for advice. 

I'm working with a group called Brazoria County Citizens for Clean Air & Clean Water which has concerns about contamination issues downstream from the chemical plants in our area, just a mile or so before the river flows into the Gulf. We've learned that testing for dioxins and other VOCs / POPs occurs infrequently, it's believed that followup testing from dioxin contamination (which led to extensive fish advisories) in the 90s / early 2000s hasn't taken place in the last 10 years. Industry says it's self-monitored, but we can't seem to track down any records of testing. 

We'd like to work with labs to organize community-based testing, starting with dioxins. Does anyone have any idea where to begin? Have any of you worked specifically with dioxin contamination issues? 

Thanks! 
Gwen Schroeder 



Stevie Lewis

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Jul 19, 2016, 1:38:18 PM7/19/16
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Hi Gwen!
Thanks for the note :). For the testing, ouch, but I'm not surprised. A lot of the pollution reporting is done by companies "self regulating" (TRI for example). I don't know of anyone doing work on dioxin specifically, but a number of people who are interested in water monitoring in general as well as pollution in the Mississippi. 

Side note - you should come to the meet up tomorrow if you're around New Orleans, 5:30 at Bacchanal. Love to hear more about Brazoria County Citizens for Clean Air & Clean Water, and we can brainstorm! 

-Stevie

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gw...@joiapictures.com

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Jul 19, 2016, 3:50:39 PM7/19/16
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Aww, I wish I could come by. I'm based out of Brooklyn most of the time, but I have a serious soft spot for New Orleans. 

Still new to the culture here in the forums -- is it ok to cross post on multiple groups? I'm also lurking over in the water quality group. 

Have a great time tomorrow. If any specific contacts come to mind, please let me know. 

Warmly, 
Gwen 

Scott Eustis

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Jul 19, 2016, 4:54:33 PM7/19/16
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Gwen, great to hear from you! testing for oiled sites is covered by our community oil testing kit, but i don't know if anyone has looked into testing for dioxins. 

generally, public lab makes screening tools, I haven't seen anyone try to test for dioxin with the spectrometer.

My group, the gulf restoration network, has been able to get the Corps to test for dioxins and PCB in ship channels during their dredging permit process, since the materials are often moved to wetland sites.

here's the Seattle Corps on dioxin testing

I know that the Freeport LNG terminal had to get 404 Corps permits, do you know whether they have tested for Dioxin in Brazoria? 

On Tue, Jul 19, 2016 at 10:14 AM, <gw...@joiapictures.com> wrote:

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Scott Eustis
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Gulf Restoration Network

330 Carondelet St.
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Stevie Lewis

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Jul 19, 2016, 5:02:34 PM7/19/16
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Hi Gwen,
Brooklyn is a bit far to travel from. There's also a NYC group if you're interested in jumping on there! Cross posting is totally fine. Google groups will only send one per email address if each person registers for different groups on the same account :).
-Stevie

gw...@joiapictures.com

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Jul 20, 2016, 12:57:22 PM7/20/16
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Hi Scott, 

Thanks for the info - this is great. I'll look into the Corps permits as the area that Freeport LNG is building is right downstream from the Dow plants. 

I'll be in touch. Really excited to keep tabs on what everyone's working on. 

Thanks, 
Gwen 

gw...@joiapictures.com

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May 2, 2017, 1:13:15 PM5/2/17
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Hi Scott (and all), 

I'm circling back on an older thread about testing contaminants in the Brazos River in Texas. There's an effort to widen the channel to allow larger vessels to come into the Port of Freeport. 

They intend to dredge which will have a substantial impact on the area. In this report below, there's testing information for 6 different sediment samples which includes VOCs, Dioxins, PCBs, etc. 

Our local contact would like to submit comments but a lot of this is greek to us. Would anyone on the thread be able to help us make heads or tails or know someone who might be able to help us make some concise and impactful comments before dredging commences? 

Here's the report: 

Thanks, 
Gwen 

Scott Eustis

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May 2, 2017, 2:27:51 PM5/2/17
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Gwen, I have larger questions.  I can read the report, but first

Contact the Water Protection Network and let people across the country know--is there an news article about this issue?  We should elevate it to a national audience.

Is it the Port that is the project sponsor?

Where is it, exactly? is it here?
http://www.justicemap.org/index.php?gsLayer=plural&gfLon=-95.29279022&gfLat=28.97465567&giZoom=13&

Who is it impacting?

maybe we can FOIA the permit for the San Bernard River to see what and how the Galveston Corps thinks about contaminated sediment


FOIA Template

I don't see a Wetland permit on the public notices in Galveston, but i haven't looked at older years.  Do they have their wetlands 404 or section 10 permit?

Here's an example of a comment letter on a port, that refers to Climate impacts...


I will try to find the comment letter for the Citizens Against the Widening of the Industrial Canal--this struggle against contaminated sediments was won in New Orleans.


[I really miss Pam Dashiell, yall. seriously]

What do the local county and municipal governments think?  is there anyone on the County Council or the Planning Board who would champion water protection?

more video here:

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Gwen Schroeder

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May 2, 2017, 10:14:18 PM5/2/17
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Hi Scott, 

Thank you for all the valuable information so far. And thank you in advance for your patience as this has been a very steep learning curve for me. Chipping away at it bit by bit. I'll reach out to Water Protection Network for help, as well.  

So far the only news reporting I've seen on the issue is in the following links, searching for the Freeport Harbor Channel Improvement Project. The report I originally shared is the plan to further modify the channel from the initial evaluation to allow Panamax ships into the channel, in order to support the petrochemical industry expansion in the area. Yes, this is the same area that you linked to on the justice map. 


Yes, as far as I know the Port is the sponsor. It would impact local residents as well as those along the Gulf Coast. I heard there's a possibility of depositing sediment along the Surfside and Quintana beaches, but I may be wrong about that. That was word of mouth. 

I'll have a look into the wetland permit info and the comment letters you reference. 

The local and municipal governments are very pro industry. I don't think we have a water champion in the ranks. 

THANK YOU! 
Gwen 










GWEN SCHROEDER

Director & Producer — JOIA Pictures, LLC

gw...@joiapictures.com   •   979-583-6197   •   cityofenchantment.com

  



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