GBCPA Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
May10, 2004
CONTACT: Katie Chimenti, 281-326-3343
Nancy Edmonson, 281-471-4567

Bayport Permit Back in Court

The Bayport opposition was in state court in Austin last week challenging a second regulatory agency's actions on the permit for the Port of Houston Authority to build a giant container port between Seabrook and Shoreacres.
    "The state court has the power to stop this project," said Nancy Edmonson, Mayor of Shoreacres. "We are still in court, and we are reviewing further options."
    The initial court action was in federal court, challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The second case, heard before Judge Jeanne Muerer in Austin on May 6, was brought against the Texas Council on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) by a coalition of local cities and conservation groups. The suit charges that the agency's certification of the Bayport permit was improper.
    The small community of Shoreacres is the lead plaintiff. Others are the Cities of Seabrook and Taylor Lake Village and the Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association (GBCPA). Judgment is expected on May 28.
    TCEQ certification is a required step under the provisions of the Texas Coastal Management Program, which is designed to coordinate state, local, and federal programs for the management of coastal resources. The 1,000-acre Bayport plan is clearly an example of a large-scale project that would have wide-ranging impacts on wetlands, Galveston Bay water quality, and coastal communities.
    "We are challenging the process by which the Coastal Management Program of the state of Texas has been rendered meaningless," said GBCPA Chair Jim Blackburn.

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Bayport Permit Back in Court, 2 of 2

    Late last year the Bayport opposition pressed the Coastal Coordination Council to conduct a thorough review of the project. In a December 30 letter to State Representative John Davis, Council Chairman Jerry Patterson declined to undertake a review, claiming that there were "no significant unresolved disputes."
    In March the Port of Houston was the only one of the nation's top ten ports to receive a failing grade in a port operations analysis released by the Natural Resources Defense Council. According to that study, an F meant: "The port has demonstrated a reckless lack of concern for public health and the environment"--underscoring what the Bayport opposition has been saying for six years.
    On April 15 Texas City broke ground for a new container port at Shoal Point. That site, originally under consideration as an alternative to Bayport, has no residential neighbors and presents much lower environmental risks because it is close to the mouth of Galveston Bay. The Port of Houston Authority was invited to be a participant in Texas City but declined.
    Harris County residents have meanwhile been exposed to a steady stream of advertising placed by the Port of Houston Authority in a transparent effort to counter widespread public opposition to its Bayport proposal. The Port Commission had approved $1.6 million in media expenditures for 2004 to continue their Bayport propaganda campaign.
    "The Port's continuing pretense that opposition to Bayport comes from a tiny minority is nonsense," said GBCPA Vice Chair Katie Chimenti. "They like to claim that Harris County voters supported them in a 1999 bond vote. But the wording on that ballot five years ago was misleading and manipulative. It said nothing about Bayport--most voters thought they were supporting environmental improvements on the bay."
    GBCPA is considering its options for appealing a recent federal court decision upholding the Bayport permit.

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Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association
P.O. Box 323, Seabrook, Texas 77586
Phone: 281-326-3343
Website: http://www.gbcpa.net
E-mail: gbcpa@ev1.net