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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jim Blackburn 713-524-1012
Nancy Edmonson 281-471-4567
February 28, 2003
Bayport Makes the New York Times
Seabrook, Texas, is not a frequent dateline on the front page of the New York Times. But it appeared there in mid-February, in an article focused on the proposed Bayport container terminal and the losses of wetlands and coastal prairie that would result if the port were built.
"The issue has been on the front pages of local newspapers for three years," noted Nancy Edmonson, Mayor of Shoreacres. "The Times article puts the weekly Clear Lake Citizen and La Porte's twice-weeklyBayshore Sun in rather distinguished company.
"Local papers know this is a very big deal," she continued, "and the national press is paying attention too. In contrast, the absence of the Bayport issue from the front pages in Houston's daily press is glaring."
The Times piece, headlined "Changes in Defining Wetlands Anger Critics of Army Corps" by Douglas Jehl (February 11), delivers a critique of the how the Corps of Engineers is exercising its environmental responsibilities. In particular, Jehl examines how changes in the definition of wetlands under federal jurisdiction threaten to produce major wetlands losses despite a national "no net loss" policy.
The Bayport project proposed by the Port of Houston Authority is cited as an example because the wetland acreage involved has fluctuated dramatically in published assessments commissioned by the Port and the Corps, even though no actual changes have occurred on the ground.
An initial tally of more than 100 acres of affected wetlands dropped to less than 3 acres, and then climbed to just over 18 acres following an outcry by local environmentalists. The outcry was focused against the Corps, which must issue the Port a permit if the project is to proceed.
The Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association is likewise not accustomed to appearing in the New York Times, but its leadership of opposition to the Bayport plan has placed GBCPA in the spotlight too. The organizationıs position is that container terminal development should occur at a site less environmentally damaging than Bayport.
GBCPA Chair Jim Blackburn noted that the federal government carries primary responsibility for regulating wetlands and preventing their loss. In this instance the federal governmentıs representative is the Corps of Engineers.
State government also has a role in this, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has announced a public hearing on the Bayport wetlands on April 3, 2003, at the Bay Area Community Center.
Requiring the Port to conduct compensatory mitigation only for some 18 acres of lost wetlands would be a very different proposition from mitigating for the much larger areas of wetlands earlier identified. Losing 1,000 acres of coastal prairie that has never been plowed is a second unacceptable impact, when this habitat type has already been drastically reduced, Blackburn added.
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Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association
P.O. Box 323, Seabrook, Texas 77586
Phone: 281-326-3343
Website: www.gbcpa.org
E-mail: gbcpa@gbcpa.org