Illegal dumping into Santa Isabel Creek, a tributary of the Río Grande, is the substance of a complaint filed by the Rio Grande International Study Center (RGISC) and property owners near the creek.
The complaint, which is dated January 30, 2019, is addressed to U.S. EPA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE), and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) .
The complaint cites the blockage of the full width of Santa Isabel Creek by the dumping of sand, gravel, and other materials by Ben Hur/City Ready Mix, whose owners of record are Benito Hurtado Jr. and Claudia Hurtado. The blockage is located 200 meters (about 650 feet) from the creek’s confluence with the Río Grande, one of the 10 most endangered rivers on the planet (World Wildlife Fund).
The City Ready Mix plant and Santa Isabel Creek are upriver of both of the City of Laredo’s intakes for municipal water treatment and delivery – 2.5 river miles from the El Pico plant and 15.4 river miles from the Jefferson Street plant.
The Río Grande is classified as Waters of the United States, a body of water that falls under U.S. federal jurisdiction.
RGISC founder Dr. Thomas Vaughan, a biologist who has monitored the river’s water quality for nearly three decades, was part of a January 27 scouting foray on the river and Santa Isabel Creek to investigate the tributary’s blockage with materials that appear to originate at the cement plant (see maps and aerials).
According to Dr. Vaughan, in addition to spanning the width of the creek, the blockage is about 60 to 70 meters (about 200 feet) in length and at a depth of about three meters (10 feet) from the creek bed to the level of its surface water.
Neighboring property owners, who have organized themselves as Friends of Santa Isabel Creek, alerted RGISC to the condition of the tributary and the fast and heavy flows of sand, gravel, and water that empty into the creek from the City Ready Mix operation via a trench.
According to Tricia Cortez, executive director of RGISC, property owners have noted that heavier discharges into the creek are accompanied by higher noise levels of trucks and machinery.
Alex Gutierrez, whose family has owned property on the banks of Santa Isabel Creek for 40 years, recalls a creek channel that “once flowed clean, free, and navigable.” He has enjoyed kayaking and fishing there with his two sons, but has noticed noted that there are not as many fish in the creek as there once were, because the flow from the river is completely blocked by the thick, wide, and deep deposit of sand, gravel, and perhaps concrete.
“The top of the obstruction is capped with something dangerous that looks like quicksand. When we were out there last weekend, we watched a large dog trying not to get sucked into it. Luckily he made it out. It’s a safety hazard for that and other reasons. What else is being discharged into the creek and eventually into the river? Millions of people on both sides of the river depend on the Río Grande as their only source of drinking water. And that includes us,” Gutierrez said.
Erik Garza, who owns 3.1 acres on the Santa Isabela bank directly across from the City Ready Mix operation, said his property has recreational value for kayaking and fishing with his three school age children. He filed a complaint with the TCEQ in December of 2017.
“The dumping has stopped the flow of the creek. We cannot get to the Río Grande anymore. About a year ago, we could get through a narrow place by kayak, but now not even the kayak can make it through. With no flow, the creek could rise and flood my property. I’m also concerned about water quality. Are they just washing gravel, or are they using chemicals and substances that should not end up in the river?” he asked.
Garza said he was assured by the TCEQ that they would take water samples and analyze them.
Civil engineer Edward D. Garza, P.E. who is a RGISC board member, observed that photos and maps indicate that Santa Isabel Creek is jurisdictional Waters of the United States and within the 100-year floodplain. He said that based on the complaint and its supporting maps, “The owner of the plant has filled in the creek and has stopped the natural flow of water into the Rio Grande. This fill also indicates that they have filled in the floodway, which will result in modifying the floodplain.”
Garza continued, “The filling of jurisdictional Waters of the United States requires an environmental study and a 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The modification of the floodplain requires approval of a CLOMR.” (A Conditional Letter of Map Revision, FEMA’s comment on a proposed project that would, upon construction, affect the hydrologic or hydraulic characteristics of a flooding source and thus result in the modification of the existing regulatory floodway).
Garza said that Santa Isabel Creek appears on the National Wetlands Inventory Map. “This part of the creek that has been disturbed is identified on the Wetlands Map as ‘Riverine, Freshwater Forested Wetland.’ The best solution to address this is for the landowner to engage the services of a professional engineer who specializes in environmental studies and permitting through the Army Corps of Engineers to remedy this. This creek needs to be restored to its original condition,” Garza said.
According to Cortez, phone calls and complaints from neighboring land owners have not slowed or stopped activity at the cement plant; rather the operation has moved some of its work to night hours. “We noticed when we were out there last weekend that dirt had recently been moved to block the trench from the plant to the creek,” she said.
The complaint filed by RGISC requests:
- That samples be taken to analyze what type of materials are in the creek blockage.
- That the concrete plant owner be required to remediate the blockage and re-open the natural flow of Santa Isabel Creek.
- That the owner be cited and fined accordingly for this ongoing business practice.
My compliments to Dr. Tom V., Tricia C. and the members of RGVISC for your dedication and hard work. This was an excellent report, well supported with scientific data and photographic evidence. Thank you very much for your continued ecologic protection of Laredo’s and Nuevo Laredo’s source of potable water. The public needs to know who is looking out for them.