This is a off-topic, but it affects most of this website’s readers in Kingwood, Atascocita and Humble. Houston Public Works will start replacing nine concrete panels on West Lake Houston Parkway beginning Thursday, October 1. All are on north bound lanes between Life Storage and the Lake Houston YMCA. Weather permitting, Public Works should complete the work by October 22.
From October 1-22,Houston Public Works will replace nine concrete panels on West Lake Houston Parkway in the area between the two red lines.
Time of Day for Construction
Construction activities will take place Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Flagmen and orange traffic cones will help with traffic flow through the construction zones. The project will require one lane closure. Two-way traffic will remain at all times.
Businesses and residents will have access to driveways and sidewalks at all times, but may experience an increase in noise levels due to trucks and equipment.
For More Information
The cost of the project: $38,605. Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin’s Council District Service Funds will pay for the improvements.
For more information, please contact Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin’s office at (832) 393-3008 or districte@houstontx.gov.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/28/2020 with thanks to Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin
1126 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Work-Area-e1601309528684.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=18771200adminadmin2020-09-28 11:15:102020-09-28 11:19:45West Lake Houston Parkway Repaving Starts October 1
Bob Henson, a meteorologist and journalist based in Boulder, Colorado, published a fascinating a story in The Washington Post on September 26, 2020. It makes good weekend reading. The story is about a 17-year old boy named Alexander Hamilton, living on the island of St. Croix, when a hurricane struck it on August 31, 1772.
Hurricane Article Establishes Hamilton’s Creds as Writer
Says Henson, “The hurricane — probably at least a Category 3 in St. Croix, according to a leading weather historian — prompted a teenage Alexander Hamilton to write an evocative description of the storm published in a local newspaper. Impressed by his essay, leaders of the Caribbean island took up a collection to send him to the American Colonies for formal education. The rest is history…”
Hamilton literally wrote his way off the island.
Bob Henson in The Washington Post
Hamilton’s Account of the Storm
Hamilton wrote: “It seemed as if a total dissolution of nature was taking place. The roaring of the sea and wind, fiery meteors flying about it in the air, the prodigious glare of almost perpetual lightning, the crash of the falling houses, and the ear-piercing shrieks of the distressed, were sufficient to strike astonishment into Angels. A great part of the buildings throughout the Island are levelled to the ground, almost all the rest very much shattered; several persons killed and numbers utterly ruined; whole families running about the streets, unknowing where to find a place of shelter; the sick exposed to the keeness of water and air without a bed to lie upon, or a dry covering to their bodies; and our harbours entirely bare. In a word, misery, in all its most hideous shapes, spread over the whole face of the country.”
Busiest Hurricane Season in History
Michael Chenoweth, a climate historian quoted in the article, believes that the storm grew into a Category 4 hurricane and may have been one of the five strongest hurricanes in the Atlantic before 1900. Chenoweth also believes that the decade of that storm ties for the busiest in history.
Reading Henson’s article I felt compelled to dig more into the history of Hamilton and St. Croix.
History of St. Croix
St. Croix has been a territory of the United States since 1917. Columbus discovered the island in 1493, but the Spanish never colonized the island. Denmark, England, Norway and France jostled for possession of the island in the 1600s. For nearly 200 years, Saint Croix, St. Thomas and St. John were known as the Danish West Indies. In 1916, Denmark sold Saint Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John to the United States in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies. The cost: US$25 million in gold.
Hamilton’s Contributions
Hamilton’s ideas are credited with laying the foundation for American government and finance. He was:
An American statesman, politician, legal scholar, military commander, lawyer, banker, and economist.
Active in ending the legality of the international slave trade
Reshaping History
Hamilton campaigned against Aaron Burr, whom he felt was unprincipled. Hamilton died in a duel with Burr in New Jersey in 1804, but not before shaping the nation that would shape world history.
Had it not been for that hurricane in 1772, he might have died an orphan on St. Croix. And who knows how different history might have been?
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/27/2020
1125 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/440px-Alexander_Hamilton_portrait_by_John_Trumbull_1806.jpg?fit=440%2C521&ssl=1521440adminadmin2020-09-27 11:24:442020-09-28 10:32:38How a Hurricane Shaped World History
The oil and gas company with the joke name (Exxon spelled backwards) is no joking matter. After flooding from Hurricane Harvey, Noxxe left a mile-long trail of devastation in Forest Cove for taxpayers to clean up. The company’s toxic legacy includes dozens of abandoned wells, toppled tanks, and twisted, rusting, ruptured pipes – all in the floodway of the San Jacinto River West Fork, which supplies drinking water to two million people.
Meeting with Texas Railroad Commission
After a series of posts on this subject, I received a call from the Texas Railroad Commission (TRRC). TRRC took control of Noxxe’s operation after the company went bankrupt in February.
Sign posted on entry to Noxxe lease
The Commission’s District Cleanup Coordinator invited me to tour the site with him and discuss the status of cleanup. There’s good news and bad.
Good News
Tanks have been drained of toxic chemicals.
Some wells have been plugged.
TRCC believes the oil spilled on the ground will degrade naturally.
A small check dam should keep oil-contaminated rainwater from washing into the river (except in floods).
Bad News
Many of the wells have NOT been plugged.
Oil has spilled on the ground.
Rusting, oil-covered equipment litters the property.
Legally, the state has no recourse against the company’s management or the property owners.
The State Comptroller’s Office has taken over bidding for cleanup jobs like this, but reportedly has no specialists in toxic waste cleanup.
The Comptroller’s Office has reportedly established an “approved vendor list” for these jobs, but the list doesn’t have enough vendors to handle all the work needed in the State.
TRRC has no budget to handle the Noxxe job and may not get it.
Thieves steal equipment with salvage value.
Brine (saltwater produced with oil and gas) has contaminated many parts of the site, killing vegetation.
Ground-Level Photos
These photos represent only a small portion of the site. But I’m sure you get the picture.
Editorial Opinion
Texas and Texans make their living from minerals. But left like this, those minerals may be the death of us, too. Noxxe has given a black eye to the entire oil and gas industry, which has thousands of reputable companies and millions of hard-working people in Texas.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/26/2020
1125 Days after 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/2020/09/20200916-RJR_1721.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2020-09-26 14:26:022020-09-26 16:28:39Close-Up Photos of Noxxe’s Devastation
West Lake Houston Parkway Repaving Starts October 1
This is a off-topic, but it affects most of this website’s readers in Kingwood, Atascocita and Humble. Houston Public Works will start replacing nine concrete panels on West Lake Houston Parkway beginning Thursday, October 1. All are on north bound lanes between Life Storage and the Lake Houston YMCA. Weather permitting, Public Works should complete the work by October 22.
Time of Day for Construction
Flagmen and orange traffic cones will help with traffic flow through the construction zones. The project will require one lane closure. Two-way traffic will remain at all times.
Businesses and residents will have access to driveways and sidewalks at all times, but may experience an increase in noise levels due to trucks and equipment.
For More Information
The cost of the project: $38,605. Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin’s Council District Service Funds will pay for the improvements.
For more information, please contact Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin’s office at (832) 393-3008 or districte@houstontx.gov.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/28/2020 with thanks to Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin
1126 Days after Hurricane Harvey
How a Hurricane Shaped World History
Bob Henson, a meteorologist and journalist based in Boulder, Colorado, published a fascinating a story in The Washington Post on September 26, 2020. It makes good weekend reading. The story is about a 17-year old boy named Alexander Hamilton, living on the island of St. Croix, when a hurricane struck it on August 31, 1772.
Hurricane Article Establishes Hamilton’s Creds as Writer
Says Henson, “The hurricane — probably at least a Category 3 in St. Croix, according to a leading weather historian — prompted a teenage Alexander Hamilton to write an evocative description of the storm published in a local newspaper. Impressed by his essay, leaders of the Caribbean island took up a collection to send him to the American Colonies for formal education. The rest is history…”
Hamilton’s Account of the Storm
Hamilton wrote: “It seemed as if a total dissolution of nature was taking place. The roaring of the sea and wind, fiery meteors flying about it in the air, the prodigious glare of almost perpetual lightning, the crash of the falling houses, and the ear-piercing shrieks of the distressed, were sufficient to strike astonishment into Angels. A great part of the buildings throughout the Island are levelled to the ground, almost all the rest very much shattered; several persons killed and numbers utterly ruined; whole families running about the streets, unknowing where to find a place of shelter; the sick exposed to the keeness of water and air without a bed to lie upon, or a dry covering to their bodies; and our harbours entirely bare. In a word, misery, in all its most hideous shapes, spread over the whole face of the country.”
Busiest Hurricane Season in History
Michael Chenoweth, a climate historian quoted in the article, believes that the storm grew into a Category 4 hurricane and may have been one of the five strongest hurricanes in the Atlantic before 1900. Chenoweth also believes that the decade of that storm ties for the busiest in history.
Reading Henson’s article I felt compelled to dig more into the history of Hamilton and St. Croix.
History of St. Croix
St. Croix has been a territory of the United States since 1917. Columbus discovered the island in 1493, but the Spanish never colonized the island. Denmark, England, Norway and France jostled for possession of the island in the 1600s. For nearly 200 years, Saint Croix, St. Thomas and St. John were known as the Danish West Indies. In 1916, Denmark sold Saint Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John to the United States in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies. The cost: US$25 million in gold.
Hamilton’s Contributions
Hamilton’s ideas are credited with laying the foundation for American government and finance. He was:
Reshaping History
Hamilton campaigned against Aaron Burr, whom he felt was unprincipled. Hamilton died in a duel with Burr in New Jersey in 1804, but not before shaping the nation that would shape world history.
Had it not been for that hurricane in 1772, he might have died an orphan on St. Croix. And who knows how different history might have been?
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/27/2020
1125 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Close-Up Photos of Noxxe’s Devastation
The oil and gas company with the joke name (Exxon spelled backwards) is no joking matter. After flooding from Hurricane Harvey, Noxxe left a mile-long trail of devastation in Forest Cove for taxpayers to clean up. The company’s toxic legacy includes dozens of abandoned wells, toppled tanks, and twisted, rusting, ruptured pipes – all in the floodway of the San Jacinto River West Fork, which supplies drinking water to two million people.
Meeting with Texas Railroad Commission
After a series of posts on this subject, I received a call from the Texas Railroad Commission (TRRC). TRRC took control of Noxxe’s operation after the company went bankrupt in February.
The Commission’s District Cleanup Coordinator invited me to tour the site with him and discuss the status of cleanup. There’s good news and bad.
Good News
Bad News
Ground-Level Photos
These photos represent only a small portion of the site. But I’m sure you get the picture.
Editorial Opinion
Texas and Texans make their living from minerals. But left like this, those minerals may be the death of us, too. Noxxe has given a black eye to the entire oil and gas industry, which has thousands of reputable companies and millions of hard-working people in Texas.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/26/2020
1125 Days after 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.