Houstonians feel pressure at the pump

by Lisa Chavarria / KHOU 11 News
khou.com
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 8:48 AM

HOUSTON NEWS 11 -- The price at the pump appears to be forcing drivers around Houston to figure out ways to save cash.

Gas prices were averaging $3.49 on Tuesday morning, and that is forcing some drivers to find ways to other means of transportation.


Several commuters at one of Metro's Park and Ride said although they usually choose the bus over their vehicles, now it's saving them more than ever.
"It makes me want to ride the bus more. It's cheaper for me to take the bus than it is for me to drive to work now," said John Young.

Gloria Chen, recently decided she couldn't take her car on her usual commute anymore. She added, "I used to drive all the way to the Medical Center from Katy, but because of increasing gas prices, I've decided to use the park and ride."

Conroe environmental battle heats up

CONROE - A giant red sign sitting in a front yard reads, "Warning. Toxic Wells Coming." Farther down a snaking, wooded road is a clearing with another sign posted on a metal gate warning trespassers of video surveillance.

This is ground zero in a 5-year-old battle that has pit residents of this city north of Houston, federal regulators and a multibillion-dollar oil company against Texas environmental officials who approved an underground landfill despite arguments it could contaminate aquifers that provide drinking water to millions of people in South Texas.


Opponents to the plan point to the cancer-stricken California town of Hinkley made famous by Julia Roberts' film Erin Brockovich as an example of what can happen when water is contaminated.
"Once your water is dirty, you'll never get it clean again," said Rebecca Kaiser, a Conroe resident who has spent five years fighting the plan by TexCom Gulf Disposal LLC to operate an injection well barely a mile from hundreds of homes and several schools.


TexCom wants to bury liquid commercial waste that is classified as nonhazardous, but could include trace amounts of toxic chemicals, including cancer-causing benzene. The company would inject the waste into a well thousands of feet underground.
The procedure is done safely in hundreds of places nationwide, but the proposed waste site in Conroe is an oil field pockmarked with hundreds of abandoned wells drilled in the 1930s, some of which officials say have not been properly plugged.


The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and some engineers fear these wells could act as a conduit for the waste to travel to aquifers, contaminate the water and go unnoticed for some time.


"There is some scientific evidence that there could be a problem there," said Philip Dellinger, EPA's chief of the groundwater underground injection control section.


$500 million drilling at stake
Matters are complicated further because Denbury Onshore LLC, a company investing more than $500 million in a lucrative oil drilling project in the Conroe oil field, believes the opposing pressures created by the oil production and the waste injection could contaminate the precious minerals it is mining.


Despite the widespread opposition, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality voted 2-1 in January to issue TexCom a permit to operate the underground landfill.
The permit was approved after the agency's own two-member administrative panel advised against it, the state's Railroad Commission said the oil and gas resources could be harmed and the EPA expressed concern.


Lou Ross, TexCom's president, said he is confident the company will be able to proceed with its plans after the expected appeals process is complete.
He said the science is sound and "the geology in the area is proper for this type of well," including 1,100 feet of impermeable shale that would separate the waste and the aquifer.


"It's problematic because of what's going on with humanity on the surface, not because of geology," Ross added.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY AT THE CHRON

"Poop" not funny to TxDot.

by Tiffany Craig / 11 News
khou.com
Posted on March 14, 2011 at 4:54 PM

HOUSTON—A detour sign downtown has been getting a lot of attention over the past few days, but it’s sending the wrong message.

A prankster managed to hack into the electronic sign and change the message.
Britnie McFadden works in a building at Louisiana and Prairie.

"This morning when I came into work, I saw the LOL and smiley face and I thought it was hilarious," said McFadden. "I took a picture and posted it on Facebook."
The Monday morning message attracted plenty of attention, but it was the four-letter word a few days ago that really had people laughing out loud.

"Friday night it said ‘POOP,’" said Mustafa Guner. "I was coming back from a workout and I was shocked. Make a left turn if you need to poop!"
A similar prank happened in Austin two years ago. Somebody rigged a warning sign to say "Caution: Zombies Ahead," "Run for Cold Climates" and "The End is Near."
The sign is owned by a TxDOT contractor. They told us somebody broke into the guts of the trailer and hacked the system.

A man who goes by the name "John" believes it was all in good fun.
"You can’t get any better than that, you know what I mean," he said.
By Monday afternoon, the intended message was back, along with a new lock.
McFadden was a little upset to see the fun was over.

"I just think that somebody actually took the time to do it has given everybody a good laugh," said McFadden. "I mean, it’s all in good fun—not very legal -- but good fun nonetheless."

If caught, the hacker could be fined $500.
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NORAD exercise tomorrow over Houston

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will conduct exercise flights tomorrow morning as they practice intercept and identification procedures. Exercise flights will take place over Southeastern Texas. Although they are scheduled for mid-morning, the exercise flights could be delayed due to weather concerns.

Those living southeast of Houston, specifically near Ellington Airport, may hear and/or see NORAD-controlled fighter jets in close proximity to a military or military contracted aircraft, which will be taking on the role of a Track of Interest (TOI).

In order to test responses, systems and equipment, NORAD continuously conducts exercises with a variety of scenarios, including airspace restriction violations, hijackings and responding to unknown aircraft. All NORAD exercises are carefully planned and closely controlled.

NORAD has conducted exercise flights of this nature throughout Canada and the U.S. since the start of Operation Noble Eagle, the command’s response to the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001.