Noxxe Oil and Gas, LLC owned the lease next to the Forest Cove little league fields and Townhomes. New pictures show the full extent of the toxic mess the company left behind.
Cited by the TRCC for oil spills, unpermitted discharges, contaminated soil, leaking well heads, improper construction, failure to screen open top tanks, lack of safety measures, and failure to remediate problems
Then Hurricane Harvey flooded the remains of Noxxe’s lease at 324 Forest Cove next to the little league fields. Within a month, the owner moved from Forest Cove, leaving a toxic legacy behind.
Noxxe’s Property Confiscated by State
The Texas Railroad Commission pursued Noxxe’s owner, Steve Shaffer, and finally confiscated Noxxe’s equipment.
Notice of confiscation by State of Texas on Noxxe’s lease at 324 Forest Cove Drive.
TRRC hopes to shut in Noxxe’s wells and clean up its mess this fall after the commission’s budget recycles with the new fiscal year.
More Pictures of Noxxe’s Legacy Today
Below, some new pictures show what we will live with until then.
Looking north at boundary line between Forest Cove little league fields and Noxxe lease.Note the color change in the ponds. Water in the pond closest to the leaking well is black. Other pond is lighter.Rusting tanks and broken pipes.Noxxe’s leaking, unscreened, open-top tanksWider shot shows tanks surrounded by other problems.Leaking well, rusting pipe and polluted surface water.The Noxxe Trifecta.
Several blocks west, at the Forest Cove Townhomes, Noxxe left other problems behind.
Leaking well overgrown with vegetation.Tanks ravaged by Harvey with broken pipes.Rusting tank leaking oil.Close up of same tank enlarged from photo above.
All photographs above were taken on 6/27/2020.
I have no idea how much the cleanup of all this will cost. Only one thing is clear. The public will foot the bill.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/28/2020
1034 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/2020/06/20200627-DJI_0009.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=19001200adminadmin2020-06-28 16:45:282020-06-28 16:45:39More Photos of Noxxe Oil and Gas Devastation In Forest Cove
I smelled it before I could see it. While flying up the San Jacinto West Fork on 6/16/2020, acrid smoke from burning trees filled the air for miles. Then I saw it. The comforting, green blanket of trees that surrounds Houston had another massive gash in it. This is one of the main ways flooding starts. But it doesn’t have to be this way. You don’t have to destroy nature to profit from it.
Death of a Thousand Cuts
You’ve heard it. A thousand times. “What I do on my property is my own damn business.”
Extrapolate that out a hundred years. Multiply it times millions of people. Before you know it, you have…Houston. And flooding. Often born out of lack of awareness of alternatives.
Start of a new development between FM1314, SH99 and the West Fork, adjacent to Cumberland.Red marker indicates location of pictures.North is up and FM1314 cuts diagonally through frame on upper right.The developer had trees lined up like the dead bodies of fallen soldiers on a battlefield.Perhaps someday, this will be the site of a strip center. Maybe they will call it Memorial in honor of the silent sentinels that once helped protect this land from erosion and flooding.It’s easier for contractors to work without trees. But it is possible to work around them.
How Trees Reduce Flooding
Nearby, homes in Cumberland showed that development can co-exist with nature. In fact, people pay a premium to be surrounded by nature.
Google “role of trees in reducing flooding” and you will get 240 million results. Here are some of the main ways.
Anchoring topsoil. They reduce erosion which can clog rivers and streams.
Slowing down floods.Forests create friction that reduces the speed of floodwaters. That increases the time of accumulation and reduces flood destructiveness. The runoff coefficient for a watershed is the fraction of rainfall on that watershed that becomes storm water runoff. Forests reduce it.
Breaking up heavy downpours. Leaves and forest canopies catch rain and let it drip gently to the ground, again reducing erosion.
Whole industries are set up around clear cutting. Try to build something someday. Most likely everyone from architects to engineers, land clearing companies, and building contractors will tell you that trees are a nuisance during construction. They say it’s best to get rid of them and replant when you’re done building.
I’m not a professional developer. But I did construct an award-winning office building in the forest without killing everything around me. I even managed to preserve a small patch of wetlands with a seasonal pond on the property. It became the focal point of the main entry. Deer routinely grazed outside my windows. Hawks hunted on the property. Everyone felt connected to nature.
A building that made everyone feel as though they worked in the forest.Fawn born on RCS lawn, near the red sign above.Red Tailed Hawk kept rodents away.The peaceful quiet of a December snow.Can you see the street just 75 feet away?
You Don’t Have to Destroy Nature to Profit From It
The Texas Society of Architects named it one of the top 25 buildings in Texas the year it was built. And the American Institute of Architects gave the building its highest award for Environmental Design. People loved the relaxed atmosphere of working in the building; nature has a soothing quality. My company’s productivity and profits soared. And when it came time to retire, I sold the building for a nice profit that lets me live comfortably.
All it took was a vision and the determination to build a team of contractors who shared it.
These are the kind of stories you don’t hear from people who make their money with bulldozers.
Oh, and by the way. The building never flooded. Never even came close. Nor did anyone ever say that I was making their flooding problems worse.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/27/2020 with thanks to Melton Henry Architects and Crawford Construction
1034 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/20200616-RJR_4625.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2020-06-27 19:30:362020-06-27 19:38:33You Don’t Have to Destroy Nature to Profit From It
Mysteries at the Triple PG mine in Porter are deepening. In the 19 days before I took the pictures below, we got 0.63 inches of rain at the closest official rain gage (East Fork and FM1485). During that time, the temperature soared into the nineties almost every day and wastewater inside the Triple PG mine got lower. One pond has even almost disappeared. Yet, water outside the mine on neighbors’ properties got even higher. I cannot understand how this works.
Mysteries Defy Logic, Explanation
Dr. Guniganti, the cardiologist from Nacogdoches who owns the mine, must be a genius. He’s managed to construct a parallel universe – in Porter of all places. Porter now rivals Roswell and Area 51 as centers of paranormal activity.
In this parallel universe, Dr. Guniganti can make wastewater magically disappear.
Yet in another display of Dr. Guniganti’s magical prowess and beneficence, the good Doctor makes water fall from clear-blue skies to drench his neighbor’s properties free of charge.
No wonder the community has dubbed him, “Guniganti, the Guy Who’s Got It Going.” At first, I thought neighbors bestowed that phrase on Guniganti for his talent to keep trucks running all night long under the cover of darkness…even as he operated under an injunction by the State’s Attorney General.
The Phlegm of Legend
They used to write ballads about immortals like Guniganti. He’s right up there with Pancho Villa, the Mexican general who inked a deal with a Hollywood studio to film his men in battle for 20% of the gross.
Guniganti’s also going for the gold. He will not be outdone by Pancho Villa, Ray or Egon. I can see the headlines already:
Sandman Takes on Texas
It Ain’t Dumping Unless They Catch You
Man Saved by Covid
The last headline refers to the fact that Guniganti’s case was supposed to go to trial this week. But of course, it didn’t due to the pandemic and some last-minute filings. No telling what those last minute filings are; the Travis County Clerk says it may take up to two weeks to email the documents.
Pictures of the Paranormal
In the meantime, here are more pictures of the paranormal.
Notice how low the water is in Triple PG’s main process wastewater pond (blue/green). The blue/green color is likely due to high chloride levels in the waste water or cyanobacteria.This strip of property adjacent to the mine is owned by other people. Note how high the water is after two weeks of mostly 90 degree days and less than 2/3rds of an inch of rain. It’s a miracle!Compare the height of ponding water on each side of the road. Water is almost overflowing from the neighbor’s property back into the wastewater pond.Water in the next pond over is even lower. It’s almost gone. Guniganti appears to be draining the pond in the foreground so that he can “dry mine.” An injunction has idled his dredge. But how did that water get so low? Where did it go?Can Guniganti make water evaporate in different ponds at different rates?Next to that same pond, by Caney Creek (foreground), a trail of water of various hues leads down from the mine after weeks without rain.
Great Leaping Pond Scum!
Can Guniganti really have the power to make water evaporate from different ponds at different rates? How did water form puddles on the side of that hill? Did water leap out of this mine over the road? Or is Guniganti causing it to flow uphill from Caney Creek using anti-gravity powers?
A former high-level Public Works executive for the City of Houston suggested miners sometimes pump water over the side of their dikes at night.
But I can’t believe an immortal with paranormal powers like Guniganti would need a mechanical assist. Move over Roswell. We need Hollywood to investigate.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/27/2020
1033 Days since Hurricane Harveyand 282 since Imelda
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/2020/06/20200616-RJR_4333.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2020-06-26 22:51:052020-06-27 11:00:12Triple PG Mine Case Extended While Mysteries at Mine Deepen
More Photos of Noxxe Oil and Gas Devastation In Forest Cove
Noxxe Oil and Gas, LLC owned the lease next to the Forest Cove little league fields and Townhomes. New pictures show the full extent of the toxic mess the company left behind.
Noxxe’s Troubled History
Before the company forfeited its right to do business in Texas earlier this year, the company had been:
The Texas Railroad Commission also:
The company seemed to be mired in legal troubles almost from its beginning in 2009.
Then Hurricane Harvey flooded the remains of Noxxe’s lease at 324 Forest Cove next to the little league fields. Within a month, the owner moved from Forest Cove, leaving a toxic legacy behind.
Noxxe’s Property Confiscated by State
The Texas Railroad Commission pursued Noxxe’s owner, Steve Shaffer, and finally confiscated Noxxe’s equipment.
TRRC hopes to shut in Noxxe’s wells and clean up its mess this fall after the commission’s budget recycles with the new fiscal year.
More Pictures of Noxxe’s Legacy Today
Below, some new pictures show what we will live with until then.
Several blocks west, at the Forest Cove Townhomes, Noxxe left other problems behind.
All photographs above were taken on 6/27/2020.
I have no idea how much the cleanup of all this will cost. Only one thing is clear. The public will foot the bill.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/28/2020
1034 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.
You Don’t Have to Destroy Nature to Profit From It
I smelled it before I could see it. While flying up the San Jacinto West Fork on 6/16/2020, acrid smoke from burning trees filled the air for miles. Then I saw it. The comforting, green blanket of trees that surrounds Houston had another massive gash in it. This is one of the main ways flooding starts. But it doesn’t have to be this way. You don’t have to destroy nature to profit from it.
Death of a Thousand Cuts
You’ve heard it. A thousand times. “What I do on my property is my own damn business.”
Extrapolate that out a hundred years. Multiply it times millions of people. Before you know it, you have…Houston. And flooding. Often born out of lack of awareness of alternatives.
How Trees Reduce Flooding
Google “role of trees in reducing flooding” and you will get 240 million results. Here are some of the main ways.
Trees reduce flooding by:
This page by the EPA contains an excellent summary of the benefits and dozens of documented case histories from all over the county.
Alternatives to Clearcutting
Whole industries are set up around clear cutting. Try to build something someday. Most likely everyone from architects to engineers, land clearing companies, and building contractors will tell you that trees are a nuisance during construction. They say it’s best to get rid of them and replant when you’re done building.
I’m not a professional developer. But I did construct an award-winning office building in the forest without killing everything around me. I even managed to preserve a small patch of wetlands with a seasonal pond on the property. It became the focal point of the main entry. Deer routinely grazed outside my windows. Hawks hunted on the property. Everyone felt connected to nature.
You Don’t Have to Destroy Nature to Profit From It
The Texas Society of Architects named it one of the top 25 buildings in Texas the year it was built. And the American Institute of Architects gave the building its highest award for Environmental Design. People loved the relaxed atmosphere of working in the building; nature has a soothing quality. My company’s productivity and profits soared. And when it came time to retire, I sold the building for a nice profit that lets me live comfortably.
All it took was a vision and the determination to build a team of contractors who shared it.
Oh, and by the way. The building never flooded. Never even came close. Nor did anyone ever say that I was making their flooding problems worse.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/27/2020 with thanks to Melton Henry Architects and Crawford Construction
1034 Days after Hurricane Harvey
Triple PG Mine Case Extended While Mysteries at Mine Deepen
Mysteries at the Triple PG mine in Porter are deepening. In the 19 days before I took the pictures below, we got 0.63 inches of rain at the closest official rain gage (East Fork and FM1485). During that time, the temperature soared into the nineties almost every day and wastewater inside the Triple PG mine got lower. One pond has even almost disappeared. Yet, water outside the mine on neighbors’ properties got even higher. I cannot understand how this works.
Mysteries Defy Logic, Explanation
Dr. Guniganti, the cardiologist from Nacogdoches who owns the mine, must be a genius. He’s managed to construct a parallel universe – in Porter of all places. Porter now rivals Roswell and Area 51 as centers of paranormal activity.
In this parallel universe, Dr. Guniganti can make wastewater magically disappear.
Yet in another display of Dr. Guniganti’s magical prowess and beneficence, the good Doctor makes water fall from clear-blue skies to drench his neighbor’s properties free of charge.
No wonder the community has dubbed him, “Guniganti, the Guy Who’s Got It Going.” At first, I thought neighbors bestowed that phrase on Guniganti for his talent to keep trucks running all night long under the cover of darkness…even as he operated under an injunction by the State’s Attorney General.
The Phlegm of Legend
They used to write ballads about immortals like Guniganti. He’s right up there with Pancho Villa, the Mexican general who inked a deal with a Hollywood studio to film his men in battle for 20% of the gross.
Guniganti’s also going for the gold. He will not be outdone by Pancho Villa, Ray or Egon. I can see the headlines already:
The last headline refers to the fact that Guniganti’s case was supposed to go to trial this week. But of course, it didn’t due to the pandemic and some last-minute filings. No telling what those last minute filings are; the Travis County Clerk says it may take up to two weeks to email the documents.
Pictures of the Paranormal
In the meantime, here are more pictures of the paranormal.
Great Leaping Pond Scum!
Can Guniganti really have the power to make water evaporate from different ponds at different rates? How did water form puddles on the side of that hill? Did water leap out of this mine over the road? Or is Guniganti causing it to flow uphill from Caney Creek using anti-gravity powers?
But I can’t believe an immortal with paranormal powers like Guniganti would need a mechanical assist. Move over Roswell. We need Hollywood to investigate.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/27/2020
1033 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 282 since Imelda
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.