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Proposed Landfill May Carry Waste into Main Channel

Posted on: Tuesday, 26 July 2005, 15:00 CDT

Jul. 26--RAYMONDVILLE -- Floodwater could carry waste from a proposed landfill into the region's main drainage channel that flows into the Laguna Madre, an engineering consultant told a state judge in the first day of a hearing that will help determine if the state will approve the project.

In seven hours of testimony, lawyers representing homeowners and ranchers grilled two paid consultants, trying to show that the 630-acre regional landfill posed environmental risks at the site about 1.5 miles from Lasara.

In the weeklong hearing, state Judge Sarah Ramos will gather evidence that she'll use to rule on whether the state should grant Abilene-based Tan Terra Environmental Services a permit to build the proposed landfill.

"If the waste had not been confined or cleaned up, then it could run with the surface water. It could go into the canal," Tan Terra engineering consultant David Poe told the small audience during six hours of testimony.

But Poe argued the project's system of culverts and storage ponds would safeguard against the flow of wastes into the channel.

"At the rates we discharge it into the drain, the capacity will be there," Poe said of the project's drainage system.

In tense testimony, Austin attorney Rick Lowerre argued that Poe had failed to conduct a survey to map the area to determine its flood risks.

But Poe argued the state allows the use of a Federal Emergency Management Agency map to plan such projects.

In other testimony, Poe told Lowerre he had not planned to use radiation detection devises to detect possible radioactive waste.

Tan Terra environmental consultant Keith Bradley testified that the 50-foot-wide channel served as a wetland.

It is also a wildlife habitat to several threatened or endangered species, Lowerre argued.

Attorney Scott McLain said the proposed landfill could not discharge into the channel because the Delta Lake Irrigation District owns the waterway.

McLain also said floodwater would carry waste to El Sal del Rey, the sprawling salt lake in eastern Hidalgo County that's protected as a wildlife refuge.

"This area is considered one of the premier birding centers in the entire world," McLain told Bradley, referring to the region's budding eco-tourism industry.

Outside the hearing, U.S. Rep. Juan Escobar, D-Kingsville, stood on the back of a pickup truck as he urged other South Texas lawmakers to take the battle to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

"We're concerned of issues involving health and environment," Escobar told a small crowd.

"It would suppress any economic development. The Laguna Madre brings in half a billion dollars a year to the Valley. Willacy County has one of the last farm and ranch areas in South Texas. Whatever we have left is going to he affected tremendously."

Ramos will rule on whether to grant the permit on Oct. 18, said Andrea Morrow, spokeswoman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The Commission will issue the final ruling in a public meeting to be set in Austin, she said.

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Copyright (c) 2005, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas

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Source: Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, Texas)

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