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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Alvin Chamber Warns About Scam!

Alvin-Manvel residents warned about scam
May 6, 2010 3:58 pm Robert Stanton wrote:
Connie J. Elies, president of the Alvin-Manvel Area Chamber of Commerce, warns residents and business people to beware of an advertising scam that is using the chamber's name. Here is an e-mail she sent to chamber members and the media on Thursday:

Dear Members and Friends,

I have just become aware of a potential scam targeting area businesses.

Calls are being received across our area from a company who is claiming to represent the Alvin-Manvel Area Chamber of Commerce to solicit advertising on an "Alvin, Texas 2010 City Map."

To be clear, the chamber is not currently working on any type of map or other publication. In the future, when we offer advertising opportunities, chamber members will first be notified to bring awareness of the project and also given the name of the company that will be contacting you regarding advertising.

No one will ever call you without you first being notified of the project. Should you ever have questions regarding a company's affiliation with or representation of the Chamber, please don't hesitate to call our office immediately.

As a rule, never agree to advertising over the phone with a company that you aren't familiar with. There are plenty of reputable agencies in and around the Alvin-Manvel area that will contact you directly when there is a legitimate local publication in production.

Sincerely,

Connie J. Elies

connie@amacc.org


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HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASTICS: Gold rush ends for Lady Cats Collins 3rd in all-around; Hansen 2nd on uneven bars

ALVIN, Texas — For the first time since 2003, the Central High School girls gymnastics team will return to the James R. White Gymnastics Building without some kind of gold from the Texas High School Gymnastics Championships.

The best finish for the Lady Cats in Saturday’s individual event finals was Julia Hansen’s second place on uneven bars. Hansen scored a 9.85 to Lake Highlands’ Sarie Morrison’s 9.90.

The German exchange student also finished sixth on vault with a 9.70 to end her Texas high school gymnastics experience.

“It was really fun,” Hansen said. “I am glad I got to compete and I got second on bars. First would have been better, but second was cool, too.”

In other individual event results for the Lady Cats, Stormy Luera was sixth on balance beam with a 9.675. Chaney Collins tied for seventh on uneven bars with a 9.55, took ninth on floor exercise with a 9.40 and tied for 10th on vault with an 8.70.

It wasn’t the finish Collins was looking for. Central head coach Tony Walker explained that the judges claimed Collins shuffled her feet between leaps during a dance sequence on the floor exercise and deducted her heavily.

Neither Walker nor Collins was happy about the outcome.

Collins’ day was somewhat redeemed when she was awarded a scholarship and was named to the Texas team that will compete in Florida next month.

Friday night, the Lady Cats finished second to Lake Highlands in the team standings, and Collins was third in the all-around.

Late Friday night, the Central boys finished eighth as a team following the optional round of competition. Unlike a year ago when the Bobcats dropped a spot after the second day, they managed to hold on to the place they were in after the compulsory round this year.

The finished with a score of 305.30.

“Overall, I am extremely proud of the team,” Central boys coach Kern Arrott said. “They have come a long way this year. They have fought hard. For them to be here at the state meet was a huge thing, and to get up there and finish eighth was awesome.

“The seven teams that were ahead of us were very, very good teams.”

Humble Kingwood won the boys team title with a score of 330.350.

Central’s Ryan Terrill was 12th in the all-around with a score of 107.75. He was in fifth place after the compulsory round and couldn’t keep up with the difficulty of the other gymnasts’ routines.

The Bobcats’ other all-arounder, Christian Finley, was 32nd. Hurst L.D. Bell’s Elijah Holt won the boys all-around with a score of 112.85.

“His difficulty level is not where those other guys’ are,” Arrott said of Terrill. “He has seen a lot of difficult skills thrown, and I have told him that he is capable of that.

“It comes down to spending time in the gym, and that is something he is going to have to think about.”

Terrill competed in three events on Saturday. He finished seventh on vault with a 9.20 and ninth on high bar with a 7.75.

He also competed on floor exercise but didn’t finish in the top 10.

The top 10 in each event after Thursday and Friday’s rounds, including ties for 10th, advanced to Saturday’s finals.

“I feel OK about it,” Terrill said. “I had a couple of bobbles, a couple of things I was disappointed about. It just didn’t all come together.

“I thought I would be higher. I thought I would do better.”

Now both teams look toward next year with high expectations. Arrott is pleased with the experience his team gained this year and is excited about what next year holds.

Walker will lose Collins but will gain a couple of talented freshmen to go along with another team that will have only one senior, Luera, next year.

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