Bad news in west bay!!!!!!

[WestEndAngler]

I'm starting to get the impression that the state and federal guv'mints weren't talking to each other. The Corps had a 1975 environmental assessment that let them blow dredge spoils anywhere they wanted. The TCEQ and state had a much more up to date assessment done in 2005 - which specifically protected sea grass and oyster beds. You would think there would be some consulting between the guv'mints but there was not.

So I think we need to change all that. We had a problem with the Corps down here in SPI when they dredged the ship channel and cut down into pure, hard, Rio Mud. The dredger contacted the Corps and said "we got a problem here with all the s**t ending up on the beach." The Corps said to go ahead anyway and they'd fix it later. About 50,000 cubic yards of heavy chunks of mud were blasted onto our county park, Isla Blanca. It was so bad they had to rope the area off, and swimmers and surfers got sick in the surf. Obviously not "beach quality sand" for sure.

See the Corps is like the FAA which regulates the airports and airlines - they could give a darn for us lowly people because they promote the shipping trade and their contractors, pure and simple. It is true that there are a lot of towboats on the Pelican Island to Freeport ICW, about 8,000 trips either way every year (Bolivar to Port Arthur has over twice as many but still that's a lot). So the Corps, acting in the interest of a hundred million dollar petrochemical industry, decided to "blow and go" and try to sneak a maintenance dredging job in over the winter.

What they didn't know was that the West End Crew was out there in full force!

I think the lessons to learn here is to get over this stupid project, get some money for sea grass replanting ... and make all those turkeys sit down at the table and come up with a new environmental assessment and maintenance plan. Drafts of these plans should be available for comment by all public parties. Make it so that if the dredger or Corps didn't follow The Plan, there would be corrective and legal actions. We probably need a unified plan for the entire ICW from east or Orange to Port Isabel. So what if it takes a minor war and two years?

We need to get it right.

Merry Christmas, 2011

x1000!!!!!!

[WestEndAngler]

Yesterday around three pm they were pumping onto the flats, stilll up in the corner. Could see lots of flow right near the shoreline. We went through the cut and saw the next outflow pipe already set up over the island on the east side of the cut. No evidence of any intention to pump to the north side of ICW. Did see the big crawler trackhoe near the camp on north side.

Coe, was that you in the mudboat right up on the shoreline?

Jim

Yeah but I was West of the cut there was another one East of the cut...

[JimG]

We were west of the cut. In a 20 Sea Hunt. Thought that might been you. When we left we ran through the cut. Pipe gave me a pucker...he he!

Hope to get to meet you someday. Thanks for your work on this. You made a difference.

JimG

Merry Christmas

[WestEndAngler]

Press Release from Galveston Bay Foundation

USACE Makes Changes to West Bay Dredging Project


Webster, TX – January 10, 2012 – The Galveston Bay Foundation (“GBF”) met with officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District (“USACE”) last week to view and discuss a dredging project near Carancahua Point in West Galveston Bay on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. GBF and many local fishermen have been concerned about the dredge material being placed upon seagrasses that have re-established in the area. Seagrass is an important and rare habitat in Galveston Bay, as juvenile shrimp, crabs, and fish all use seagrass beds as nursery areas. Galveston Bay had lost over 90% of its seagrasses since the 1950s, but in recent years, seagrasses have begun to return to the bay.

The USACE justified the dredging project under a study done in the Laguna Madre that showed that long term impacts to seagrass from being covered with a thin layer of dredge material would be minimized if the material was placed in the winter months when the seagrass is photosynthetically inactive. However, because seagrass is so rare in Galveston Bay as compared to the Laguna Madre, GBF asked the USACE to carefully review its plans and make changes to further minimize potential impacts to seagrass.

The USACE used, or was scheduled to use, two permitted placement areas (“PA”) in West Bay, PA 63 and PA 62 (please see attached maps of PAs). The USACE has already completed its work in PA 63, but is still scheduled to place a substantial amount of dredge material in PA 62. After GBF representatives visited the site and met with the USACE last week, the USACE has agreed to make the following changes:

1. The USACE will immediately complete a full seagrass survey at PA 62 prior to any new material being placed there and will follow up with a post-dredging survey in PA 63 to establish dredge material thickness and elevations for long term monitoring.

2. The USACE will monitor impacts at PA 63 where the dredging has already taken place to create a formal record of any long term impacts to the seagrass there.

3. The USACE will create an interagency coordination team (“ICT”) to discuss the dredging on the Intracoastal Waterway between Sabine Lake and Matagorda Bay ahead of time in the future, and will also develop a full monitoring plan for disposal areas PA 63 and PA 62. The team will evaluate the seagrass surveys and the post dredging conditions and make recommendations on how the USACE should monitor and manage operations in PA 62 and 63.

4. The USACE will attempt to minimize impacts to seagrass from the disposal that has yet to occur in PA 62. First, they will take as much as half the dredge material that is still scheduled to be placed in PA 62 and beneficially use it on private property north of the Intracoastal Waterway. Second, for the material that still must go into PA 62, the USACE will ensure its dredge contractor moves the dredge pipe multiple times to make sure no more than a thin layer will be placed onto any one area.


GBF President, Bob Stokes, stated, “I was impressed with the attention the USACE gave this matter. They took our concerns and the concerns of local fisherman seriously and have agreed to make important changes to the project.” In the meantime, the placement areas will continue to be monitored to ensure the minimization of negative impacts to seagrasses in West Galveston Bay.



About Galveston Bay Foundation
The mission of the Galveston Bay Foundation is to preserve, protect, and enhance the natural resources of the Galveston Bay estuarine system and its tributaries for present users and for posterity. The Foundation was incorporated in 1987, and is a non-profit organization under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. GBF is located at 17330 Highway 3 in Webster, Texas. For further information, contact GBF at 281-332-3381, or visit the website at www.galvbay.org.

# # #

West Bay Dredge Map.pdf

[Kylie Howard]

i love GBF and its always really fun volunteering for them.

[Ms Addicted]

Thanks for posting that Coe!

[crw91383]

Any plans by COE or GBF to replant grass in the area? My fiancé is an environmental attorney and says that Blackburn & Carter/GBF firm has been all over the COE ***** latel but she is not sure whether it is in relation to this incident or another that occurred elsewhere. The guy that owns the company doing the dredging is a total POS. he has his company registered under his wife name in orde to qualify it as a minority owned business for federal contracts. He has currently been doing levee work for a freind of mines family on the ICW and they cannot stand working with them.

[WestEndAngler]

Any plans by COE or GBF to replant grass in the area? My fiancé is an environmental attorney and says that Blackburn & Carter/GBF firm has been all over the COE ***** latel but she is not sure whether it is in relation to this incident or another that occurred elsewhere. The guy that owns the company doing the dredging is a total POS. he has his company registered under his wife name in orde to qualify it as a minority owned business for federal contracts. He has currently been doing levee work for a freind of mines family on the ICW and they cannot stand working with them.

I have asked Bob over at GBF about us helping replant sea grass.

I contacted Jim Blackburn back when they first started pumping. They have threatened legal action against the dredge company. Just sickening looking at their dump sites! Jim and I exchanged several e-mails talking about what was going on and then GBF took over.

[kenny]

The North shoreline is not totally farked up, but pretty close to it. Deep sludge over almost all the grassy spots and over the finger reefs.

[crw91383]

Well if they do I replant I would totally volunteer a day of my time to assist. Sea grass could onc again thrive in our bay and make Galveston bays fishery even better. I hope they figure out this whole COE dumping issue soon before the damag is to long term.

[Rollo]

I try not to be too negative but I think the grass will not grow in the sludge after Ike the area washed clean and thats when we started noticing grasses starting to root in that area whatever it takes we need to work on saving it,just a shame what took nature so long to re-establish... some dumb ***, short sited greedy SOBs can destroy overnite .Im sick thinking about it!