Texas Gulf Waits & Worries

LAPORTE -- Richard Arnhart spends much of his days monitoring wind trajectories, scientific bulletins and TV newscasts.

Parts of an oily blob three times the size of Rhode Island -- and growing -- are believed by many experts to be lumbering closer to the Texas Gulf, and Arnhart is part of the first line of defense.
As a regional director for the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Program in the Texas General Land Office, Arnhart is paid by the state to fight oil spills, and he's heavily involved in state and federal contingency planning for any possible impact on Texas from the massive oil spill lurking in the Gulf of Mexico.

Communities all along the Texas coast are making similar preparations as they join the rest of the world in tracking daily developments in one of the worst oil spill disasters in history.
No one knows for sure if remnants of the spill, which was about 160 miles east of the Lone Star State late last week, will reach Texas waters. The consensus seems to be that if there is an impact it will be in the form of tar balls or a frothy substance resembling chocolate mousse. Experts don't expect any residue to hit this far west for several weeks.

Beyond that, just what threat the spill poses for a region of the state whose economy and culture is tied to the gulf is difficult to gauge. Environmentalists warn of possibly irreversible damage to the state's fragile ecosystems and endangered wildlife. Others worry about potential losses to fishing and tourism, though local officials say they have yet to see any signs of an economic backlash.
"It's going to have an impact one way or another," said state Rep. Aaron Pena, D-Edinburg, chairman of the state House Select Committee on Emergency Preparedness, which has scheduled a Monday hearing in McAllen to examine Texas preparations for the spill. "We swim in that ocean. We eat the food that comes out of that ocean. It's part of our [committee's] charge to be prepared for emergencies, and this is certainly an emergency that Texas should be prepared for."
'No news is good news'

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, whose office would be in charge of fighting residue from the spill and enforcing the cleanup, took steps late last week to calm fears about the oil slick.

"We're watching and waiting, but it's just not time to go to general quarters," said Patterson, who is scheduled to testify at Monday's hearing. "No news is good news."

Patterson sought to dispel TV reports that tar balls from the spill are already showing up on Texas beaches. Although tar balls occasionally wash ashore along the Texas Gulf, they may be decades old and could come from natural seepage or earlier spills, the land office said. An analysis on tar balls collected from Jamaica Beach on Galveston Island last week proved conclusively that the substance did not come from the oil slick in the gulf, said Cmdr. David Berliner of the Coast Guard.
Nevertheless, an out-of-control underwater gusher dumping more than thousands of barrels of oil into the gulf each day is impossible for Texans to ignore. Houston area residents watching TV last week, for example, might have seen ads aired by attorney Jim Adler offering his service to victims of the spill.

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Oil spill threatens already weakened wetlands

by Brad Woodard / 11 News
khou.com


Crews depart with giant box to help Gulf oil leak
With millions of gallons of oil already in the gulf and massive underwater plumes that could poison and suffocate sea life across the food chain, experts say the damage from the spill could endure for a decade or more. For Galveston, however, the picture isn't quite as bleak.

"There may be some kind of effect coming this way, some little tarballs, but we'd be talking about almost three weeks into the future, which gives it more time to break up. More time to sink," said Peter Davis, chief of the Island's Beach Patrol.

If Davis doesn't seem overly concerned, it's because he's seen it all before.

"I've worked here for almost 30 years, and before that I was on the beach all the time," says Davis. "I remember in the 80s when there was less regulation; there was tar around a lot more."

Long before the Deepwater Horizon explosion, in fact, long before offshore drilling, tarballs were washing up on Texas beaches. The state estimates as much as a million barrels of crude oil leaked into the gulf through natural seepage in just the last year.

Although the coast is clear in Galveston, at least for the moment, some business owners along the seawall worry all the news surrounding the spill with scare off tourists.

"They don't know if there is oil or no oil," says Izzy Wolraich, the owner of four businesses on the Island. "And we know there's no oil.

There're afraid about poisoned fish and dirty water, but there's not a panic yet."

And that's what he fears the most.

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EMC Constable Cages "BUZZARD"

After a 3-day search, the Precinct 4 Constable’s Office captured fugitive Johnny Lee “Buzzard” Walley, Jr., 39, of Houston, at a home in Harris County near the Montgomery County line.

When Constable Kenneth “Rowdy” Hayden and his deputies searched the residence, “Buzzard” was hiding among some insulation in the attic. He remained still, but the sheet rock beneath him gave way and dropped Walley through the ceiling into the master bedroom where he was taken into custody and returned to the Montgomery County Jail, charged with bond forfeiture.

“The buzzard fell from his nest and we put him a cage,” Hayden said.

Walley gained notoriety last November when he unleashed a pit bull terrier on Precinct 4 officers as they conducted an unrelated investigation at a home in the 17600 block of White Oak Drive near FM 1485 in Grangerland. The dog lunged at Chief Deputy Barry Welch, who had to use deadly force to stop the attack.

At that time, Walley was charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a public servant; felony possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine); and hindering apprehension or prosecution of a known felon. Walley was later released on bond, but failed to appear in court as scheduled and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

The search for Walley included multiple locations, where Precinct 4 deputies arrested nine of Walley’s associates on outstanding warrants, drug possession charges and resisting arre

Child left in car rushed to hospital.

BAYTOWN, Texas—A toddler was rushed to Memorial Hermann Tuesday afternoon after she was left in a hot car, police said.
Investigators said the girl’s father found her unresponsive in the back of his car, which was parked at the auto shop he owns in the 900 block of Alexander.

When the father found the girl, he rushed her to a nearby fire station, where paramedics performed CPR until Life Flight arrived.


Police said the father had taken his other two kids to school on his way to work, but apparently forgot to take the little girl to day care.


It was unclear exactly how long the girl was left in the car.
Her condition was not known.

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