Advocates, Lawmakers Urge Army Corps to Opt for Alternate Project 11 Dredge Offshore Disposal Plan
If the Army Corps agrees, toxic sludge would go into Galveston Bay, not on land near homes, as allowed by EPA
HOUSTON — The Healthy Port Communities Coalition (HPCC) and a group of Houston-area lawmakers are urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to dispose of toxic dredge materials from the Houston Ship Channel expansion, known as Project 11, into Galveston Bay or out into the Gulf instead of on land in disposal sites located in communities near the channel.
Advocates say the Army Corps has a clear alternative allowed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): offshore disposal of the dredge material instead of on land.
HPCC recently learned that the EPA gave the Corps of Engineers approval to dispose of the material in the waters of Galveston Bay or the Gulf, safely away from homes near land-based dredge disposal sites. In two letters – one by HPCC and another by the lawmakers – the signers call on the Corps to embrace dredge disposal at sea to protect people and property on land. Included with the HPCC letter is an independent review by a former USACE engineer who identified “significant and unnecessary life safety risks associated” with disposing of the dredge material near residential areas.
“HPCC does not dispute the need to improve Houston Ship Channel operations to support regional economic growth. However, we firmly believe these economic benefits should not be pursued at the expense of increased life-safety risks for thousands of residents in adjacent neighborhoods. The current approach—using upland placement areas immediately adjacent to homes, supported by outdated analyses and an inherently risky construction method—is inconsistent with USACE standards and best practices,” reads the letter penned on behalf of the coalition by Bridgette Murray, the founder of HPCC-member organization Achieving Community Tasks Successfully (ACTS).
Port Houston has completed its portion of the channel expansion without placing additional dredge materials at the land-based sites that threaten residential neighborhoods. If USACE agrees to dispose of the dredge material in the Bay or Gulf for its sections of the expansion, it would provide peace of mind to entire communities that are worried about more contaminated dredge material contaminating their neighborhoods and the structural integrity of the dredge placement areas.
The letter from HPCC to the USACE is available here, and the letter signed by eight elected officials is available here. The letters are accompanied by a review of Project 11 conducted on behalf of the HPCC by William B. Empson, a retired USACE engineer whose “evaluation raises critical concerns about significant and unnecessary life safety risks to the public due to the proximity of dredge spoil placement areas to residential homes,” the HPCC letter adds.
Empson’s report identifies several concerns with Project 11, including plans to use dredge placement sites in communities, the risks of the “upstream construction” method, which has been banned in other countries, the structural stability of the sites, and the potential to worsen local flooding. The report concludes that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should conduct a life-safety risk analysis of the proposed project.
“We demand that the Corps adopt the safest solution that protects our communities,” said Guadalupe Fernández, resident of the Fidelity/Clinton Park community and advocate with HPCC member Bayou City Waterkeeper. “The continued use of these upland dump sites is a public safety failure and an environmental injustice. These dredge placement structures are effectively dams operating without proper safety standards, ignoring modern climate realities like increased flood risk. USACE’s own data show that the dredged material contains hazardous chemicals at concentrations well above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s residential cancer risk thresholds. Economic benefits of our region must not come at the expense of our lives.”
Added Leticia Gutierrez of Air Alliance Houston, “Communities like mine are already carrying the burden of pollution, flooding, and industrial risk. Continuing to place toxic dredge material near our homes puts families in harm’s way and deepens long-standing environmental injustices. Protecting community health is not optional; it is a responsibility. The Army Corps must choose the safest option and keep toxic materials away from where people live.”
HPCC has for years urged the Corps and Port Houston to stop disposing of dredge materials at sites along the ship channel. In addition to Empson’s review, testing of the material at existing land disposal sites commissioned by HPCC confirmed that soil samples and standing water adjacent to the existing dredge material placement areas contain 11harmful chemicals, including arsenic, dioxins and PCBs. Because of the area’s vulnerability to extreme weather events, dredge material from previous expansions has been sent into homes by flood waters.
Even if the dredge material is not displaced, its proximity to where people live and work still poses a danger, testing has shown, and the hills created by the tons of disposed sediment could increase the area’s propensity to flood.
About the Healthy Port Communities Coalition
HPCC advocates for healthy and prosperous Houston Ship Channel communities. The coalition’s nine member organizations work to expand transparency at Port Houston, reduce pollution through zero emissions technology, and protect people’s health through protective standards and enforcement. HPCC recognizes the importance of an informed and active local community, and we provide residents with information so they can advocate for themselves and their communities.
More about HPCC at healthyportcommunities.org