San Antonio Seeks to Cut Off Water to Mulch Fire

By John W. Gonzalez, Houston Chronicle

Feb. 9–SAN ANTONIO — Citing potential contamination of the Edwards Aquifer, the city and its main water supplier authorized litigation Thursday to prevent any more water from being used to extinguish a massive mulch-pile fire that has smoldered near Helotes since Christmas Day.

San Antonio Water System, claiming nearby wells already have been tainted by water applied to the towering pile, also wants to bar any other system from supplying water to the state-led firefighting effort.

The arson-induced blaze has blanketed northwest Bexar County with soot, smoke and odors. Dozens of families are displaced, school has been disrupted, outdoor activities curtailed and health problems exacerbated around the privately owned site.

Litigation between the owners and the state and disagreement over firefighting techniques have stymied fire-suppression efforts that have already cost hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.

Working with a Pasadena-based contractor, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality planned to apply about 300,000 gallons per day to the heap to dismantle and douse it.

A suburban supplier, Bexar Metropolitan Water District, offered its resources when SAWS’ board voted to withhold its water Tuesday, but the litigation authorized Thursday places those plans in question.

In an emergency session Thursday, the San Antonio City Council authorized its own lawsuit and urged intervention by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to help devise a new plan of attack on the mulch fire.

john.gonzalez@chron.com

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Copyright (c) 2007, Houston Chronicle

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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