This is the eighth in a series about Best Management Practices (BMPs) proposed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for sand mines in the San Jacinto watershed. This post will focus on the Final Stabilization Report that operators should file after mines cease operation.
As we saw yesterday, operators abandon many mines with little thought to stabilization, cleanup, or reclamation. When that happens, mines become a blight on communities and the environment.
Below is the text of proposed BMPs for the Final Stabilization Report. I will provide my comments at the end. Here is a link to the complete text of all BMPs proposed by the TCEQ.
Final Stabilization Report
BMPs within the final stabilization report show what the TCEQ values. One made me scratch my head and sigh “Huh?” Others represent glaring omissions. Below, see the proposed text.
6 Final Stabilization Report
Prior to operations terminating at a sand mining facility site or portion(s) of the site, a final stabilization report must be submitted to the executive director for review and approval at the following address:
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Stormwater Team Leader (MC-148)
P.O. Box 13087
Austin, Texas 78711-3087
The Final Stabilization Report must, at a minimum, include and demonstrate that the items described below in section 6.1 Report Requirements have been addressed.
6.1 Report Requirements
Vegetative Cover:
The operator shall establish perennial vegetative cover in all areas except where ponds, highwalls, permanent structures, or paved areas exist.
Perennial vegetative cover must be uniform (i.e. evenly distributed with no large bare areas) and have a density of at least 70 percent of the native background vegetative cover for the area.
Vehicle and Equipment Storage and Maintenance Areas:
The operator shall remove fluids and batteries from, and thoroughly clean all vehicles and equipment remaining on-site.
All fuel and chemicals must be removed from maintenance areas. Maintenance areas must be thoroughly cleaned and cleared. If maintenance areas are unpaved, these areas must have vegetative cover established.
Structural Controls:
All temporary structural controls must be removed from the site. Remaining permanent structural controls must be adequate to manage remaining on-site drainage.
Other:
Highwalls: The permittee shall demonstrate that all remaining highwalls are stable and safe.
Waste: All waste must be removed from the site and disposed in accordance with applicable TCEQ rules.
Landowner Agreement: If applicable, a copy of all existing agreements with landowners regarding stabilization of the site must be included.
Certification: The Final Stabilization Report must be signed and certified by a Texas licensed professional engineer or a Texas licensed professional geoscientist.
Comments
I have several comments on these.
The first has to do with vehicles and equipment “remaining” onsite. The BMP only requires that the operator must “thoroughly clean all vehicles and equipment remaining on site”! Really? Why not require removal?
This BMP lets operators turn old mines (and our river system) into junk yards. It’s a recipe for urban decay. Rivers flood periodically and will inundate the old equipment and abandoned vehicles. Simply cleaning it before it floods and rusts is a joke.
If operators don’t want the equipment and vehicles they should sell them to another operator or for scrap, not just clean them. Don’t turn them into a blight on the landscape or communities.
Sand mining equipment abandoned for years between downtown Humble and the West Fork.One operator’s idea of cleaning an excavator before abandoning it. This pit is now open to the river through erosion.
Second, the Final Stabilization report BMPs make no mention of removing debris.
Give me a home…where the deer and the antelope roam!Abandoned West Fork Mine.
Third, nor do they mention removing old buildings which could attract squatters and drug users.
Abandoned East Fork Mine with rusting buildings still on site.
Fourth, they make no mention of ensuring that outer dikes (or levees) separating abandoned pits from adjacent rivers are not breached due to lateral erosion of the river.
Abandoned mine after Harvey on right, West Fork on left.Same area today. Lateral erosion breached dike allowing sediment to escape.
Finally, as with the BMPs in previously covered sections, enforcement is an issue here, too.
So where’s the vegetative cover?The high wall of this pit has partially collapsed endangering properties around it and people standing near it. The wall was not properly stabilized.
Public Comments Due by 7/19/21
Please submit your thoughts on the Final Stabilization Report and other BMPs to the TCEQ. Email Macayla.Coleman@Tceq.Texas.gov with the subject line “BMPs Guidance Document” before August 19, 2021.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/17/2021
1449 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/20210101-RJR_4113.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2021-08-17 13:14:112021-08-17 13:20:34BMPs for Final Stabilization Report Omit Crucial Elements
This is the seventh in a series about Best Management Practices (BMPs) proposed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for sand mines in the San Jacinto watershed. This post will focus on post-mining activities – what should happen after the mine ceases operations.
As with previous posts, I will summarize the proposed BMPs and provide my comments at the end. Here is a link to the exact text of the BMPs proposed by the TCEQ.
Proposed Post-Mining BMPs
5 Post-Mining Phase
Post-Mining stabilization may depend on an agreement with a landowner; sometimes mines lease land, but often they own it.
Activities may involve stabilization of inactive pits or borrow areas with herbaceous perennial plants.
Stabilizing the soil helps prevent wind and water erosion from causing damage. It also improves the site’s aesthetic appeal and its ability to support wildlife.
This practice applies to sand borrow areas where soil has been replaced to approximate original conditions as well as where the soil profile has been removed.
5.1 Site Stabilization
Evaluate soil characteristics to help stabilize soil and prevent erosion. The following guidelines will help meet site-stabilization objectives.
Slope stability: Cut-and-fill slopes must not exceed 2:1 to provide stability. Gentler slopes (3:1) support seeding efforts better. Avoid long slopes to help prevent erosion, and allow access for seeding, mulching, and maintenance.
Diversions: Construct diversions at tops of slopes to divert runoff away from the slope banks to a stable outlet.
Chutes: Construct aggregate lined chutes or equivalent to conduct concentrated flow of water to stable outlets.
Soil Conservation: Reclaim abandoned roads by reshaping, recontouring, and resurfacing with topsoil. Seed them to grow vegetation. Remove structures such as bridges, culverts, cattle guards, and signs. Remove remaining sand stockpiles to eliminate potential for offsite discharge during stormwater flows.
Operators must practice good soil conservation and seed bare ground during the post- mining phase to aid in minimizing and/or reducing the potential for stormwater to wash sediment loads from unvegetated areas into nearby waterways. Natural regeneration takes time and during that process much sediment could be washed away as sheet, rill or gully erosion over that period.
If active revegetation is selected, seeds that are conducive to the season and type of soil present must be used to vegetate any bare areas. Mulching (using hay or erosion control blankets, for example) also aids in seed germination and helps prevent or minimize sheet, rill and gully erosion. The NRCS office can help in the proper selection of the types of seeds and nutrients required for proper vegetative growth.
5.2 Debris and Vegetative Waste Removal
Typical debris from sand mining usually involves trees and shrubs generated from the land clearing stage of the mining process. These trees and shrubs may be placed back into the mined portion of the property and covered with overburden material.
This debris can also be stockpiled and burned if the operator complies with the outdoor burning rule in 30 TAC §§111.201 – 111.202. For more information about complying with the outdoor burning rule, operators must refer to the TCEQ guidance document Outdoor Burning in Texas (RG-049),
All waste disposal for the site must be done in accordance with TCEQ Municipal Solid Waste Rules found in 30 TAC Chapters 330, 328, and 332.
5.3 Property Grading
After completion of mining activities, operators grade the property. This minimizes non-point source stormwater pollution (i.e., sediment fines) from impacting potential pathways such as streams, creeks, tributaries, lakes, etc.
Abandoned sand mine in Plum Grove left in shambles. Not replanted. Stockpiles not removed. Equipment abandoned onsite.Same mine after heavy rains in early May. East Fork captured pit, swept through mine, and carried sediment downstream.More breaches in same mineand more sediment being swept downstream.
Rehak’s Concerns about Post-Mining BMPs
Again, these post-mining BMPs are good as far as they go. However, there are gaping omissions.
One has to do with enforcement. Another has to do with abandoned equipment. While I’ve seen one sand mine on the West Fork that took great care to convert the site to suitable and aesthetic post-mining use, typically miners just walk away from the property and leave it in shambles.
One of the biggest concerns not addressed here: abandoned equipment that leaks oil, creates eyesores, and poses safety hazards.
Abandoned mine on North Houston Avenue in Humble, just blocks from downtown.More equipment at same mine.Submerged excavator at abandoned West Fork MineAbandoned equipment at abandoned East Fork mine. Has since been removed after complaint to TCEQ.Abandoned dredge at same mine. Still there last time I looked in May.Near vertical slopes at this abandoned mine will probably never revegetate until erosion grinds them down.They also pose safety hazards for children playing nearby. This particular mine is between a paint-ball facility and a driving range.
Another post-mining issue is that reclamation depends on the good will of the miner. When all the profit has left the site, what incentive does he have to spend money to reclaim the land.
Without performance bonds to ensure post-mining reclamation, I fear that most miners will leave their property like they have in these pictures. Performance bonds are a common practice in the construction industry; they ensure satisfactory completion of a project.
Without such bonds, there can be virtually no enforcement of these post-mining BMPs. What leverage does the TCEQ have at that point? An operator could just declare bankruptcy, walk away from his obligations, and re-incorporate under a different name. The owner of one of the abandoned mines shown above has his name associated with dozens of defunct organizations.
Public Comments Due by August 19
Please submit your thoughts on Post-Mining and other BMPs to the TCEQ. Email Macayla.Coleman@Tceq.Texas.gov with the subject line “BMPs Guidance Document” before August 19, 2021.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/16/2021
1448 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/20180617-SandMineHumble_27.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2021-08-16 15:05:172021-08-16 15:12:37TCEQ Proposes BMPs for Post-Mining Phase, But Is There Any Incentive to Comply at That Point?
At the present time, Jeff Lindner, Harris County Meteorologist, expects no direct impacts to the upper Texas Coast, with the possible exception of some high tides and large swells.
Greater impacts with squalls and higher seas appear more likely along the lower Texas Coast into the weekend.
As always with tropical systems, check forecasts frequently for changes. Remember, forecasts for this storm have shifted direction a whopping 90 degrees in less than a day. Yesterday afternoon, NHC forecast the storm to head toward the Florida panhandle; last night it was headed toward Texas. Today, they show it heading toward the Mexican mainland.
Cone of uncertainty for Grace. Remember: the storm has an equal chance of making landfall anywhere within the cone.
Strong trade winds will continue to push the storm west.
Air Force Reserve and NOAA Hurricane Hunters were both able to locate a center for Grace–and measured several possible areas of tropical-storm-force winds.
High pressure over the western Atlantic is forecast to slide westward over the southeastern United States during the next several days, which should keep Grace on a westward to west- northwestward trajectory for the entire 5-day forecast period.
Forecast Maps
Grace is the lower, elongated storm. The purple area is Fred. And the red area in the Atlantic is a third is tropical depression 8.Tropical-storm-force winds could hit the Mexican mainland on Friday.
All available models closely agree on the new track.
Models are starting to show consensus on Grace’s track.
Intensity Forecast
Grace’s intensity forecast remains complicated by interaction with land and the possibility of some westerly shear during the forecast period. However, the southern shift in the forecast track takes the center of Grace over very warm 30 degrees Celsius waters in the northwestern Caribbean Sea. Therefore, Lindner expects gradual strengthening.
Once the system reaches the Gulf of Mexico, shear should decrease, says Lindner, and conditions will support additional strengthening. Many models bring Grace to hurricane intensity by the end of the forecast period.
Favorable upper level and sea surface conditions along the path of Grace over the southern Gulf support some of the stronger solutions and tropical systems in this area of the Gulf tend to have a history of quick development. NHC is currently indicating Grace nearing the Mexican coast as a tropical storm, but a hurricane is certainly possible.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/16/2021 at noon based on information from NHC and HCFCD
1448 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/145633_5day_cone_no_line_and_wind.png?fit=897%2C736&ssl=1736897adminadmin2021-08-16 11:49:482021-08-16 11:55:51Grace Now Expected to Track Farther South, Turn Into Tropical Storm Tuesday
BMPs for Final Stabilization Report Omit Crucial Elements
This is the eighth in a series about Best Management Practices (BMPs) proposed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for sand mines in the San Jacinto watershed. This post will focus on the Final Stabilization Report that operators should file after mines cease operation.
As we saw yesterday, operators abandon many mines with little thought to stabilization, cleanup, or reclamation. When that happens, mines become a blight on communities and the environment.
The seven previous posts have talked about:
Below is the text of proposed BMPs for the Final Stabilization Report. I will provide my comments at the end. Here is a link to the complete text of all BMPs proposed by the TCEQ.
Final Stabilization Report
BMPs within the final stabilization report show what the TCEQ values. One made me scratch my head and sigh “Huh?” Others represent glaring omissions. Below, see the proposed text.
6 Final Stabilization Report
Prior to operations terminating at a sand mining facility site or portion(s) of the site, a final stabilization report must be submitted to the executive director for review and approval at the following address:
The Final Stabilization Report must, at a minimum, include and demonstrate that the items described below in section 6.1 Report Requirements have been addressed.
6.1 Report Requirements
Vegetative Cover:
Vehicle and Equipment Storage and Maintenance Areas:
Structural Controls:
All temporary structural controls must be removed from the site. Remaining permanent structural controls must be adequate to manage remaining on-site drainage.
Other:
Comments
I have several comments on these.
The first has to do with vehicles and equipment “remaining” onsite. The BMP only requires that the operator must “thoroughly clean all vehicles and equipment remaining on site”! Really? Why not require removal?
This BMP lets operators turn old mines (and our river system) into junk yards. It’s a recipe for urban decay. Rivers flood periodically and will inundate the old equipment and abandoned vehicles. Simply cleaning it before it floods and rusts is a joke.
If operators don’t want the equipment and vehicles they should sell them to another operator or for scrap, not just clean them. Don’t turn them into a blight on the landscape or communities.
Second, the Final Stabilization report BMPs make no mention of removing debris.
Third, nor do they mention removing old buildings which could attract squatters and drug users.
Fourth, they make no mention of ensuring that outer dikes (or levees) separating abandoned pits from adjacent rivers are not breached due to lateral erosion of the river.
Finally, as with the BMPs in previously covered sections, enforcement is an issue here, too.
Public Comments Due by 7/19/21
Please submit your thoughts on the Final Stabilization Report and other BMPs to the TCEQ. Email Macayla.Coleman@Tceq.Texas.gov with the subject line “BMPs Guidance Document” before August 19, 2021.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/17/2021
1449 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
TCEQ Proposes BMPs for Post-Mining Phase, But Is There Any Incentive to Comply at That Point?
This is the seventh in a series about Best Management Practices (BMPs) proposed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for sand mines in the San Jacinto watershed. This post will focus on post-mining activities – what should happen after the mine ceases operations.
The six previous posts have talked about:
As with previous posts, I will summarize the proposed BMPs and provide my comments at the end. Here is a link to the exact text of the BMPs proposed by the TCEQ.
Proposed Post-Mining BMPs
5 Post-Mining Phase
Post-Mining stabilization may depend on an agreement with a landowner; sometimes mines lease land, but often they own it.
Activities may involve stabilization of inactive pits or borrow areas with herbaceous perennial plants.
Stabilizing the soil helps prevent wind and water erosion from causing damage. It also improves the site’s aesthetic appeal and its ability to support wildlife.
This practice applies to sand borrow areas where soil has been replaced to approximate original conditions as well as where the soil profile has been removed.
5.1 Site Stabilization
Evaluate soil characteristics to help stabilize soil and prevent erosion. The following guidelines will help meet site-stabilization objectives.
Slope stability: Cut-and-fill slopes must not exceed 2:1 to provide stability. Gentler slopes (3:1) support seeding efforts better. Avoid long slopes to help prevent erosion, and allow access for seeding, mulching, and maintenance.
Diversions: Construct diversions at tops of slopes to divert runoff away from the slope banks to a stable outlet.
Chutes: Construct aggregate lined chutes or equivalent to conduct concentrated flow of water to stable outlets.
Soil Conservation: Reclaim abandoned roads by reshaping, recontouring, and resurfacing with topsoil. Seed them to grow vegetation. Remove structures such as bridges, culverts, cattle guards, and signs. Remove remaining sand stockpiles to eliminate potential for offsite discharge during stormwater flows.
Operators must practice good soil conservation and seed bare ground during the post- mining phase to aid in minimizing and/or reducing the potential for stormwater to wash sediment loads from unvegetated areas into nearby waterways. Natural regeneration takes time and during that process much sediment could be washed away as sheet, rill or gully erosion over that period.
If active revegetation is selected, seeds that are conducive to the season and type of soil present must be used to vegetate any bare areas. Mulching (using hay or erosion control blankets, for example) also aids in seed germination and helps prevent or minimize sheet, rill and gully erosion. The NRCS office can help in the proper selection of the types of seeds and nutrients required for proper vegetative growth.
5.2 Debris and Vegetative Waste Removal
Typical debris from sand mining usually involves trees and shrubs generated from the land clearing stage of the mining process. These trees and shrubs may be placed back into the mined portion of the property and covered with overburden material.
This debris can also be stockpiled and burned if the operator complies with the outdoor burning rule in 30 TAC §§111.201 – 111.202. For more information about complying with the outdoor burning rule, operators must refer to the TCEQ guidance document Outdoor Burning in Texas (RG-049),
All waste disposal for the site must be done in accordance with TCEQ Municipal Solid Waste Rules found in 30 TAC Chapters 330, 328, and 332.
5.3 Property Grading
After completion of mining activities, operators grade the property. This minimizes non-point source stormwater pollution (i.e., sediment fines) from impacting potential pathways such as streams, creeks, tributaries, lakes, etc.
Rehak’s Concerns about Post-Mining BMPs
Again, these post-mining BMPs are good as far as they go. However, there are gaping omissions.
One has to do with enforcement. Another has to do with abandoned equipment. While I’ve seen one sand mine on the West Fork that took great care to convert the site to suitable and aesthetic post-mining use, typically miners just walk away from the property and leave it in shambles.
One of the biggest concerns not addressed here: abandoned equipment that leaks oil, creates eyesores, and poses safety hazards.
Another post-mining issue is that reclamation depends on the good will of the miner. When all the profit has left the site, what incentive does he have to spend money to reclaim the land.
Without performance bonds to ensure post-mining reclamation, I fear that most miners will leave their property like they have in these pictures. Performance bonds are a common practice in the construction industry; they ensure satisfactory completion of a project.
Without such bonds, there can be virtually no enforcement of these post-mining BMPs. What leverage does the TCEQ have at that point? An operator could just declare bankruptcy, walk away from his obligations, and re-incorporate under a different name. The owner of one of the abandoned mines shown above has his name associated with dozens of defunct organizations.
Public Comments Due by August 19
Please submit your thoughts on Post-Mining and other BMPs to the TCEQ. Email Macayla.Coleman@Tceq.Texas.gov with the subject line “BMPs Guidance Document” before August 19, 2021.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/16/2021
1448 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
Grace Now Expected to Track Farther South, Turn Into Tropical Storm Tuesday
Tropical Depression Grace at 11 AM EDT was moving West at approximately 15 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. If Grace stays on the current track, it will move between Cuba and the Yucatan.
No Direct Impacts to Upper Texas Coast Expected
At the present time, Jeff Lindner, Harris County Meteorologist, expects no direct impacts to the upper Texas Coast, with the possible exception of some high tides and large swells.
Greater impacts with squalls and higher seas appear more likely along the lower Texas Coast into the weekend.
As always with tropical systems, check forecasts frequently for changes. Remember, forecasts for this storm have shifted direction a whopping 90 degrees in less than a day. Yesterday afternoon, NHC forecast the storm to head toward the Florida panhandle; last night it was headed toward Texas. Today, they show it heading toward the Mexican mainland.
Current Conditions
Maximum sustained winds are currently 35 mph with gusts to 45. Grace will move over Haiti this evening and strengthen to a tropical storm south of SE Cuba Tuesday morning. Cuba and the Cayman Islands have already issued tropical storm warnings.
Strong trade winds will continue to push the storm west.
Air Force Reserve and NOAA Hurricane Hunters were both able to locate a center for Grace–and measured several possible areas of tropical-storm-force winds.
High pressure over the western Atlantic is forecast to slide westward over the southeastern United States during the next several days, which should keep Grace on a westward to west- northwestward trajectory for the entire 5-day forecast period.
Forecast Maps
All available models closely agree on the new track.
Intensity Forecast
Grace’s intensity forecast remains complicated by interaction with land and the possibility of some westerly shear during the forecast period. However, the southern shift in the forecast track takes the center of Grace over very warm 30 degrees Celsius waters in the northwestern Caribbean Sea. Therefore, Lindner expects gradual strengthening.
Once the system reaches the Gulf of Mexico, shear should decrease, says Lindner, and conditions will support additional strengthening. Many models bring Grace to hurricane intensity by the end of the forecast period.
Favorable upper level and sea surface conditions along the path of Grace over the southern Gulf support some of the stronger solutions and tropical systems in this area of the Gulf tend to have a history of quick development. NHC is currently indicating Grace nearing the Mexican coast as a tropical storm, but a hurricane is certainly possible.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/16/2021 at noon based on information from NHC and HCFCD
1448 Days since Hurricane Harvey