Las Brisas

Port “disappears” emission sources for Las Brisas

In what could be a death knell for the controversial Las Brisas Energy Center the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) standards for New Source Review (NSR) were inadequate to meet the clean air act.

The Las Brisas story took another turn on May 11th with was essentially a vote of support for the project by our “pro-business” city council. The Council decision would allow the city to provide water to the plant if they are granted their highly contested air permit by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The only real effect of the council action may be to restore some of the shaken confidence of potential Las Brisas investors that resulted from the recommendation by the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) judges that Las Brisas should not be granted their air permit. The motivation behind the push to approve Las Brisas’ water contract may have been nothing but an effort to reassure their investors. Guaranteeing a water supply to a facility whose air permit may not be granted would otherwise seem to be a rather empty gesture.

New Ozone Standards likely to put Corpus Christi out of Attainment without LB

According to sources in the environmental community, it appears that TCEQ Executive Director Mark Vickers will ask the three TCEQ Commissioners to remand the Las Brisas permit. The Commissioners could ignore the recommendation and grant the permit, but with the EPA looking over their shoulder it is questionable whether they are willing to go the mat for a big polluter.

By JOHN M. BRODER Published: June 3, 2010
The Environmental Protection Agency issued a new health standard on Thursday for sulfur dioxide emissions, the first such revision in nearly 40 years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/04/science/earth/04sulfur.html

State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) Judges Tommy Broyles and Craig Bennett reaffirmed their findings and took issue with Las Brisas contention that it had met all of the requirements necessary for Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) approval. In a letter dated June 2, 2010 the SOAH judges sent a letter to TCEQ Commissioners reiterating their previous request that the permit be sent back for more work or denied. “At this time, we continue to stand by the findings, conclusions, and recommendations contained in the PFD. Given our findings and conclusions, it is not surprising that the bulk of exceptions have come from the Applicant.”

According to Carlos Valdes, whenever a councilman decides or, “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.”
Analysis

When Mark Scott voted on the water contract for Las Brisas, two separate people during public comment stated they believed that he had a conflict of interest because his wife Carol and her company Kailo Communications represented Las Brisas. One councilman who asked not to be identified stated he understood she received $30,000 from the company for public relations work. Another City Hall insider stated he understood the number was $80,000. Regardless it certainly was over the $5,000 limit on income a spouse or close relative can receive from a company doing business with the City, something totally ignored by the City Attorney.

Public health concerns seem to have evaporated

Below you will find quotes from a series of editorials from the Caller Times Archives about their overwhelming concern for public health from second hand smoke, not only in restaurants but in bars where children could only enter with a parent as certain hours and to enter alone you have to be 18. Note how different the attitude is in their recent Editorials about Las Brisas, which will expose every child in the community through no fault of their own to potential illness and death as a proven fact.

City Council voted 5-2 with two abstentions to avoid a direct vote on a Las Brisas Water Supply contract, instead assigning the role of negotiating and signing the contract to City Manager, Angel Escobar. The resolution will also let Escobar establish a reserve fund that can be leveraged with bond money to build the 80 mile pipeline from the Colorado River to Lake Texana without further council action. The Council will be able to avoid a fight over the $140 million pipeline by issuing Utility Bonds.

The EPA publishes the following about Ozone:

Breathing air containing ozone can reduce lung function and increase respiratory symptoms, thereby aggravating asthma or other respiratory conditions. Ozone exposure also has been associated with increased susceptibility to respiratory infections, medication use by asthmatics, doctor visits, and emergency department visits and hospital admissions for individuals with respiratory disease. Ozone exposure may also contribute to premature death, especially in people with heart and lung disease. High ozone levels can also harm sensitive vegetation and ecosystems.

The summary below of proposed rule changes was entered into the federal register on January 19, 2010 by the EPA