The Lower Colorado River Authority has formed its own task force this week to review the possible contamination of the Colorado River i n Town Lake downstream from Barton Springs Pool.

An article in the Austin American-Statesman on Sunday claimed the city’s own data on sediment, soil and water samples indicated a level of seven benzene-based chemicals that were higher than a dozen Superfund sites. General Manager Joe Beal told the LCRA board on Wednesday morning he had convened the LCRA’s own task force on the issue, given the threat to the Colorado River basin.

The city is responsible for the water quality and testing that goes on in Barton Springs, Beal said, but those efforts clearly dovetail with the LCRA’s own Clean Rivers program.

“We are, of course, stewards of the river,” Beal told the board during his manager’s report on Wednesday morning. “We normally do not test for those items that are the basis for the newspaper article, but as stewards of the river, we owe it to the public to sample for those things.”

An LCRA task force, headed by engineer Dennis Daniel, will begin water sampling today above, below and at the mouth of Barton Creek where it meets Town Lake. Beal said the task force would include chemists, toxicologists and environmental health engineers. Its purpose will be to determine whether those chemicals, if present, have seeped into Town Lake.

“Hopefully, it will be a one-shot deal,” Beal said.

LCRA officials are cautious, but not necessarily worried about what they may find. Daniel said it is the LCRA’s job to ensure the river water is free from potential contaminants. At this point, only the water is being tested, but LCRA spokesman Bill McCann said, “One of the things we’re doing is putting together a plan on how to do sediment testing,” depending on what is found in the water.

Lisa Hatzenbuehler, manager of water resource protection for the LCRA, said the agency would run tests at eight sites along the river. Six of those sites are within Town Lake. She said the LCRA would conduct tests at the mouth of Barton Creek, Bouldin Creek, Waller Creek, and downstream from Longhorn Dam. Testing will also be done at Town Lake and MoPac and at Redbud Isle. “We’re also going to wait and see what TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) comes up with. As soon as we get that information, we will look at that and make sure we don’t do any duplications.”

“Tomorrow, we’ll be out on Town Lake,” Daniel said on Thursday. “We don’t expect to find anything, but we are going to go ahead and test to ensure we fulfill our responsibility of watching the river.” Daniel expects to see preliminary test results early next week.

TCEQ spokesman Patrick Crimmins told In Fact Daily his agency took between 30 and 40 water and soil samples from the pool and the creek last week. He said it is possible that results from that sampling could come back as early as today.

“Because of the interest in this there will be a lot of public process,” he said. He predicted that the agency would have a series of public meetings, regardless of the outcome of the water and soil testing.

“We’re pretty confident we’re going to find some high levels of benzo(a)pyrene (PAH) in that creek bed leading up to the apartments, and we don’t know what we’re going to find in the pool sediment.”

Lynne Lightsey, spokesman for the city’s Watershed Protection and Development Review Department (WPDR), said, “Since January of 1998 we’ve taken 19 sediment samples in that hillside area (below the Barton Hills Park Place Apts.) in the dry creek bed. Seven samples had at least one PAH level above the TCEQ protective concentration limit for sediment (above which it might be harmful to humans).” Lightsey said the city’s lawyers are working on an agreement with the owners of the apartment complex that would allow the city to conduct tests on their property.

SOS Alliance pursuing two suits against city, Stratus

The City of Austin and Stratus Properties won a partial victory in court yesterday in their continuing struggle with the Save Our Springs Alliance (SOSA). Judge Jean Meurer ruled that the environmental group’s challenge to the city’s agreement with Stratus is moot. But she granted a continuance on a portion of the lawsuit that seeks a declaration on the status of other property owned by Stratus which was not included in last summer’s Circle C settlement agreement.

Last summer, SOSA filed suit against the city and Stratus asking that the process the city went through to reach the settlement agreement be halted and that the court declare that the SOS ordinance trumps Chapter 245 (HB 1704) grandfathering claims. After that suit was filed, the City Council approved the agreement, which settled Stratus’ claims that the company could develop the 1,250-acre Circle C property under less stringent environmental regulations that preceded passage of the SOS Ordinance.

Judge Meurer said that since the City Council has already approved the agreement, the question of whether or not the ordinance supercedes Chapter 245 is not an issue for the court to decide. Attorney Casey Dobson, the city’s outside counsel on the case, told the court the Council had voted with a super majority to enact the agreement, fulfilling the requirements of the ordinance. The ordinance says that any decision to grant a variance on property in the Barton Springs Zone must have six votes from the City Council.

Attorney Amy Johnson, speaking on behalf of SOSA, requested a continuance on the city’s motion for summary judgment. Meurer granted the motion with respect to Stratus’ properties that were not covered by the settlement agreement. That means SOSA can pursue the lawsuit to determine whether the ordinance was enacted to prevent an imminent threat to health or safety.

Johnson told the court she is only a part-time attorney and cannot continue representing SOSA. However, she said co-counsel Bill Bunch would be willing to return from Prague, where he is on sabbatical, to take over the case. The judge set no time frame for discovery or another hearing. Johnson also said that the organization would like to put this suit on hold while it pursues another lawsuit filed earlier this month against the same defendants by attorney Jeff Rockwell. She explained that Rockwell cannot take over this case because he advised the city on 1704 matters prior to joining the SOSA staff.

After the hearing, Stratus CEO Beau Armstrong said his company owns about 1,000 acres in the Barton Springs Watershed that are not covered by last year’s agreement. It is Stratus Properties’ intention to work with the city in the same manner as it did on the Circle C land to avoid litigation over grandfathering issues, he said. Development of that property is at least two years down the road, he said. For background on this lawsuit, see In Fact Daily June 25, 2002 .

The Lower Colorado River Authority has been galvanized over one commanding topic in the upcoming legislative session: its own privatization.

Yesterday’s LCRA board meeting featured General Manager Joe Beal and State Government Affairs Manager Fred Aus previewing this session’s legislative agenda. First up was the Texas Conservative Coalition’ s proposal to privatize the LCRA for a possible one-time cash infusion of $570 million.

Privatization of the LCRA was a recurring theme in every session through the first half of the 1990s, Beal said. He then repeated the proposal’s persuasive downside:

• LCRA’s vintage plants are a potential burden in an extremely active power supply market.

• Its $1.8 billion in outstanding debt will take at least a decade to recoup.

• Cross-pledged facilities will complicate any sale.

Beal said selling the LCRA has always been perceived as “an awful idea.” However, he admitted that it could be done.

“Of course, your staff is taking this very seriously,” Beal said. “We’re attempting to discover who thinks it is a good idea to sell the LCRA.”

Aus believes that key lawmakers will be strategically placed to go to bat for the LCRA this session. Senate committee appointments that will impact bills dealing with the LCRA include Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay), Sen. Ken Armbrister (D-Victoria) and Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos (D-Austin). All three represent areas that are served by the Colorado River basin. They will serve in the following committees: Business and Commerce, Natural Resources and State Infrastructure and Homeland Security.

Wednesday

, Thursday, Friday.

© 2003 In Fact News, Inc. All rights reserved.

New law firm . . . Bill McLean and Jeff Howard have left Minter Joseph & Thornhill to begin their own firm. Howard says the pair will continue to concentrate on real estate matters. Announcements should be mailed in a few days, he said . . . Lance Armstrong Bikeway argument . . . Members of the cycling community have been lobbying the City Council to put the cross-town bicycle route on Fourth Street. Merchants in the Warehouse District are asking that the city move the bikeway to Third Street. Last night the Austin Neighborhoods Council voted to support the biking community’s preference for Fourth Street. The matter is expected to come before the City Council next week . . . It’s back . . . State Rep. Ron Wilson (D-Houston) has filed a bill that appears to be aimed squarely at reopening Robert Mueller Airport. Although the bill, HB 483, does not actually mention Mueller by name, it does set out certain requirements for the establishment of a state airport in Central Texas. Those include consideration of “property in Central Texas owned by the most populous city in the region” and “property with existing airport facilities.” Wilson filed similar legislation during the last session before reaching an agreement with State Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin) to exclude Mueller. (See In Fact Daily, May 9, 2001 .) Since then, the Texas Department of Transportation launched a feasibility study of a new general aviation airport in Central Texas, specifically excluding Mueller as a possibility . . . Williamson businessman to lead RMA . . . One of the three Williamson County representatives on the board of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority has been tapped by Governor Rick Perry to chair the organization. Perry selected Bob Tesch of Cedar Park. He’s the head of Tesch and Associates, a real estate and development company. “I think he’ll be a great asset to both Williamson and Travis Counties,” said Williamson County Judge John Doerfler, “because he’s the type of person that will lead that committee in the direction they need to go. He’s very knowledgeable about the area and I think he’ll be great to work with.” The likely first project for the authority is US 183-A, which would be a toll road running parallel to US 183 through Cedar Park. Williamson County Commissioners will go back to their original list of applicants to select someone to fill Tesch’s place on the board. That will put four Williamson County representatives on the seven-member board, with the other three coming from Travis County . . . Media note . . . Representatives of the Save Our Springs Alliance announced that they will have a press conference at 1pm today to discuss pollution of Barton Springs and the pool closing.

© 2003 In Fact News, Inc.

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