June 15, 2023 by Clarissa Ayala
Community Leaders Urge Port Houston, Army Corps of Engineers To Conduct More Testing, Relocate Toxic Sediment from Ship Channel Expansion
Contacts: Clarissa Ayala, cayala@lonestarlegal.org, 832-627-8404
Riikka Pohjankoski, riikka@airalliancehouston.org, 713-589-7079
Allyn West, awest@edf.org, 713-724-1810
MEDIA ADVISORY:
(Houston, TX, June 15, 2023) — Concerned with the health and environmental risks connected to Port Houston’s $1 billion expansion of the Houston Ship Channel, known as Project 11, Healthy Port Communities Coalition representatives and legal and scientific experts will gather for a day of meetings, presentations and tours with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Port, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 6 on Thursday, June 22, 2023.
Media availability starts at 4 p.m. in Pleasantville at the Judson Robinson, Sr. Community Center at 1422 Ledwicke Street, 77029, following a schedule of presentations by community members from Channelview and Pasadena; discussion of the results of third-party soil testing by Environmental Defense Fund, Lone Star Legal Aid and Public Citizen; and a tour through Galena Park, Clinton Park and Pleasantville to sites the Army Corps is considering for the deposit of the dredge spoils from the project. (To see an interactive map of the sites, please click here.)
Among those expected to be available to comment:
EPA Region 6
- Dr. Earthea Nance, Regional Administrator
- Iris Gonzalez, Chief of Staff
- Charles Maguire, Water Division Director
- Robert Houston, NEPA Division
- Gerardo Acosta, EJ Division
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Col. Rhett Blackmon
- Byron Williams
- Rob Thomas
- Brian Harper
- Chris Frabotta
- Carlos Tate
- Eric Schourek
Port of Houston
- Roger Guenther – Executive Director
- Charlie Jenkins – Chief Channel Infrastructure Officer
- Lori Brownell – Director, Channel Improvement
- Maria Aguirre – Director, Community Relations
City of Houston
- Mayor Sylvester Turner (invited)
Harris County Attorney’s Office
- Christian Menefee (invited)
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The Healthy Port Communities Coalition (HPCC) is a coalition of nonprofit, community-driven organizations that work to create a healthier Houston by empowering residents to recognize local issues and advocate for their communities. Coalition members include Achieving Community Tasks Successfully, Air Alliance Houston, Bayou City Waterkeeper, Coalition of Community Organizations, East Harris County Empowerment Council, Environmental Community Advocates of Galena Park, Healthy Gulf, Public Citizen and Texas Health and Environment Alliance.
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For more background on Project 11 and the issue with dredge spoils, please refer to KPRC Channel 2’s story, “As Houston Ship Channel expands, Pleasantville and Galena Park residents express concerns about potential toxic exposures,” and Oil & Gas Watch’s story, “Houston Ship Channel dredging for oil, chemical industry includes plan to dump toxic sediment in minority neighborhoods.”
