Josh Alberson took the photos below from Caney Creek around 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 12, 2019.
While there is now dirt in the breach, it’s not certain what kind. According to Alberson, it appears to be a mix of clay and sand.If this is the same material used in the same way to plug the May breach, it will probably fail the same way in the next flood.
No Serious Attempt to Compact Materials
Alberson says he observed mine employees dumping fill in the breach, but that he saw no attempt to compact the material with rollers. They did tamp it down with the bucket of the track hoe, however. Here’s what it looked like at about 2PM Saturday from Caney Creek. Not very tamped.
Water in the foreground is part of the original May breach. Repairs from May and so far from September, focused on building a road over the breach that acts as a dam. Two hundred feet of woods once separated the mine from the pit.This “dam” or “dike” is now about 15 feet wide and barely above the water at the low point.
Compare Width of Road to Length of Total Breach
The photo below shows the breach in question before repairs. I shot it from a helicopter on 10.2.2019.
Photo of breach looking west into pit before repairs. Note the location of the island and the width of the road relative to the length of the breach between the pit and Caney Creek (bottom left).Then review the satellite image below from Google Earthtaken in February.
Google Earth satellite image before breach in May. Yellow line represents approximate location of breach and measures 218 feet from pit to Caney Creek. Approximate width of repair is 15 feet, 1/14th the width of the original barrier.
Here you can see the width of the road at the end of work today (10/12/2019). Enough to accommodate one way traffic.A reader sent it to me.
Civil Engineer’s Impression of Repairs
Alberson’s brother is a civil engineer. He and another engineer I talked to both felt the repairs were inadequate. When asked what the repairs should consist of, Alberson’s brother suggested:
Temporary dam cut at river and in pit.
Pump out water.
Bring in 100% clay and fill entire dike and previous bank with clay in 1 ft. increments.
Measure clay at its mining point for water content.
After each foot, add spray water, then allow to dry to achieve optimum clay cohesion.
Roll pack with smooth drum roller.
Repeat to needed height.
Add geotextile, large stone, and smaller gravel followed by grass on river and pit side.
Width and height of damn should be determined by vertical drop of pit and horizontal width (i.e., water pressure on dike).
He said if they don’t “roll-pack” it, regardless of whether it is made of clay or not, it will fail.
Impact of “Dike” Failures on Families South of Mine
In the meantime, I interviewed three families below the mine today. They and physical evidence all indicated that water swept through the mine from north to south during Imelda. They said the MINE then flooded them before White Oak or Caney Creek rose. The water from the mine rose so quickly that:
One family narrowly escaped with their horses (unlike Harvey when one died).
Water covered a second family’s SUV in less than one hour. Their house – on 10-foot silts – took on two feet of water.
A third family fled early with their disabled daughter, only to find their home destroyed again when they returned. They also found their foundation undermined by the force of the water from the mine.
There really are no dikes between the mine and these families and dozens of others in their neighborhood. The road surrounding the mine is flush with ground level. It provides no protection when stormwaters capture the pit.
More on their stories in future posts. In the meantime, here are some photos of the heartbreaking devastation they suffered.
The back of Tom and Sherry Gills garage faces the mine. Just feet from the mine’s southern boundary, scouring was so bad that it undermined the foundation. Shelley Portillo’s porch also faces the mine. Water went in one side of her home and exited the opposite side, leaving sand waves in her home.Melissa Stowe’s back yard. Direction of flow came from mine and pushed construction debris up against tree line. Elevating her house ten feet after Harvey wasn’t enough. Twelve feet of water inundated her property.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/12/2019 with help from Josh Alberson and Charlie Fahrmeier
774 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 23 since Imelda
The thoughts expressed in this post represent my opinions on matters of public interest and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Alberson-10.12.19a.jpeg?fit=1500%2C1125&ssl=111251500adminadmin2019-10-12 21:46:082019-10-12 22:16:51Triple PG Mine Scurries to Fill Breaches Day After Attorney General Files Lawsuit
If past performance is any indication of the future, the mine is likely to receive a slap on the wrist. Fines against sand mines from the TCEQ have averaged around $800. However, this is more serious. The attorney general is involved. And stiffer penalties are now available thanks to a new law sponsored by State Representative Dan Huberty in the last legislation session.
If a court levies maximum penalties against this mine, the owners could be liable for $1.1 million plus $25,000 per day for each day breaches in the mine’s dikes remain open. That could easily exceed another half million dollars.
In addition, Ramiro Garcia, head of enforcement for the TCEQ, said the commission disengaged from settlement talks with Triple PG regarding May breaches. Those breaches also took weeks to patch. If lumped in with this, the court could assess yet another half million dollars.
Claim Patches in May Breaches Made with Clay
According to the results of the May investigation, investigators believe the mine patched its breaches with clay. But photos of the failed dikes indicate they were made from sand.
Breach of Triple PG Mine on Caney Creek in September. Photo taken 9/29/19.Close up of same breach reveals that this repair was clearly made from sand.Photo taken on 9/29/2019.Here’s what the same breach looked like from the air.Photo taken on 10/2/2019.I photographed at least 7 additional breaches that same day. Photo courtesy of Josh Alberson, showing that the breach remained open last Saturday, October 5, when he took this shot from his jet boat on Caney Creek.Investigators found the same breach open on the 9th, 20 days after Imelda.
About Chapter 26 of Water Code
Chapter 26 covers water quality control and industrial waste water. It defines “Industrial waste” to mean “…waterborne liquid, gaseous, or solid substances that result from any process of industry, manufacturing, trade, or business.” Its definition of “pollutant” includes “dredged spoils.”
“Pollution” also means “the alteration of the physical, thermal, chemical, or biological quality of, or the contamination of, any water in the state that renders the water harmful, detrimental, or injurious to humans, animal life, vegetation, or property or to public health, safety, or welfare, or impairs the usefulness or the public enjoyment of the water for any lawful or reasonable purpose.”
Triple PG Mine is at the confluence of floodways for White Oak Creek and Caney Creek.
The mine is in the confluence of two floodways: White Oak Creek and Caney Creek. Both are tributaries to Lake Houston, the source of drinking water for millions of people. The purpose of Chapter 26: “to maintain the quality of water in the state consistent with the public health and enjoyment…”
The code considers the possible adverse effect that illegal discharges might have on receiving bodies of water, such as Lake Houston, and on parks, such as East End Park in Kingwood.
Although the Code permits some discharges. However, “Discharges covered by the general permit will not include a discharge of pollutants that will cause significant adverse effects to water quality.”
Chapter 26 stretches more than 200 pages and 58,000 words. So I won’t attempt to summarize it here, except to say that it also includes the disposal of chlorides. One former executive for the City of Houston’s public works department told me that he personally witnessed many sand mines intentionally breaching dikes under the cover of floods to eliminate chloride buildups in their wash water.
“Companies that pollute Texas waterways will be held accountable,” says TCEQ Executive Director Toby Baker. “Every business has a responsibility to respect laws that protect the environment and public health, and I applaud the attorney general for acting swiftly on my request to hold Triple P.G. Sand Development fully responsible.”
The State of Texas requests that the court grant the following relief as allowed by law:
A permanent injunction
Civil penalties and reasonable attorney fees
Court costs
Investigative costs.
Repeated Dike Failures
The dikes of the Triple PG Sand Mine do not appear to comply with TCEQ rules for dike construction. They are built from sand and have failed repeatedly in multiple locations. However, the TCEQ rules clearly state, that structural integrity is the number one concern. “Construction must be based upon sound engineering principles. Structural integrity must withstand any waters which the levee or other improvement is intended to restrain or carry, considering all topographic features, including existing levees.”
The Attorney General’s charges do not mention dike construction. Reading the requirements, however, it will be interesting to see which professional engineer signed off on the plans. The requirements state:
“§301.36. Plans To Bear Seal of Engineer.“
“All preliminary plans and other plans which are submitted with an application for approval of a levee or other improvement shall be prepared by or under the direction of a registered professional engineer and signed by the registered professional engineer whose seal shall appear upon or be affixed thereto.”
Stay tuned. More investigation to follow.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/11/2019, with thanks to Dan Huberty, Charlie Fahrmeier and Josh Alberson
773 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 22 after Imelda
All thoughts in this post represent my opinions on matters of public safety and policy. 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/2019/10/IMG_0480.jpeg?fit=4032%2C3024&ssl=130244032adminadmin2019-10-11 20:21:042019-10-11 21:37:48Texas Attorney General Files Charges Against Triple PG Sand Mine
A recent mouth bar survey shows that dangers still likely lurk just beneath the surface. Here’s why they will only get worse if we don’t take action.
Corps Survey Shows Average Depth South of Mouth Bar
An Army Corps survey of the West Fork Mouth Bar area conducted on 9/4/2019 shows that the average depth after dredging is a bit more than five and a half feet. And that’s only because they surveyed some areas pretty far downstream from the mouth bar.
The survey contains 21,766 sampling points. You can review them all here, in this 507-page PDF. Unfortunately, my web host does not allow posting of Excel files. So you can’t explore the data as conveniently as you might like.
The Corps did not measure the mouth bar itself, which appears to be about four feet high in places. So that also skewed the data. And I am sure that the shallow areas near the bar prevented the survey boat from acquiring information there to. For instance, there are no recorded depths less that one foot.
Scattergram of All Soundings
This graph helps visualize where the bulk of the values lie as well as the extremes and range.
Distribution of Values
A bar graph is another way to visualize the distribution of values. On the vertical axis, we can see the number of soundings. On the horizontal axis, we can see the depth in feet. About half the survey points fell within the 5-6 foot range. That’s not surprising for a survey with an average depth of about 5.5 feet.
This map from Jeff Lindner, meteorologist for Harris County Flood Control, shows the distribution of rainfall across Harris and souther Montgomery Counties, plus streams that flooded. The purple color applied to the West Fork indicates it experienced a major flood. Note: these are 48-HOUR rain totals.
In fact, I have heard reports of the river flooding streets in Atasocita Point and Fosters Mill, long after the peak of the storm. Other areas may also have flooded.
Imelda’s floodwaters also ruptured a number of sand mine dikes on the West Fork. They then carried a significant amount of sediment downstream. I took the shot below on 10/2, almost two weeks after the storm. It shows the convergence of Spring Creek and the West Fork, just west of the US59 bridge. Note the huge difference in the color of water between the two streams.
Confluence of Spring Creek (left) and West Fork San Jacinto (top and right).
That’s, in part, thanks to breaches like the one below in West Fork sand mines that were still open long after the flood.
One of many breaches in West Fork sand mines on 10/2/2019, still open almost two weeks after Imelda.This one was at the Hallett Mine in Porter.This same dike breached during Harvey.
You could see the impact downstream.
Flying over the mouth bar on the same day (10.2.19), I noted new deposits in the undredged area between the mouth bar and Kings Point/Fosters Mill.See exact location in the wider shot below.Virtually none of the mouth bar itself has been removed. Nor was any of the area to the right of the mouth bar. Only the area to the left of it has been dredged and only three feet. That brought average depth to 5.5 feet. Photo taken 10.2.19, looking west.This shows the most-downstream profile in the US Army Corps of Engineers plans for the initial dredging campaign. Where the Corps stopped dredging, bottom depth was a minimum of 22 feet below the water surface elevation.Some boaters, though, have reported even greater depths in this area…as much as 38 feet.
What does all this mean?
The Corps has shortened the ramp between where it stopped dredging in Phase I and where it started dredging the mouth bar area. While they increased the conveyance by a minor amount, water will hit an underwater wall when it gets to the mouth bar. It’s like herding water into a box canyon. If the City were to lower the lake by 5.5 feet, you would see a sediment dam about a half mile long.
Despite dredging three feet, the mouth bar in its current state will still contribute to flooding…in my opinion.
The City still has not announced any plans for additional dredging despite the availability of more than $40 million earmarked for that by the State and County.
The Great Lakes Dredge has been anchored at the mouth bar for a month and a half. Recently, a crane showed up at the Army Corps command post opposite Marina Drive in Forest Cove. One can only wonder whether Great Lakes will pull their dredge out of the river like Callan did last month.
This whole episode reminds one of the wisdom of self-reliance.
The City needs to put up some of its own money out of that billion dollars we’ve paid in drainage fees to:
Redo the post-dredging survey to see how much sediment Imelda deposited.
Model the effects of various flood scenarios.
Share the results with the world.
Take appropriate action to restore public confidence.
I find it incredible that after two years of arguing about this, no one has yet modeled the effects of the mouth bar on flooding and shared it with the world.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/10/2019
772 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 21 since Imelda
The thoughts expressed in this post represent my 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/2019/10/EF-WF-Aerial_129.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=110001500adminadmin2019-10-10 22:47:542019-10-10 22:54:11Post-Dredging Survey Shows Average Depth in West Fork Mouth Bar Area To Be 5.579 Feet
Triple PG Mine Scurries to Fill Breaches Day After Attorney General Files Lawsuit
Twenty-three days after Imelda and one day after the Texas Attorney General filed a lawsuit seeking injunctive relief, the owners of the Triple PG Mine in Porter finally took some action to seal at least one of the eight breaches in their dikes.
Photos Taken Saturday Show Start of Repairs
Josh Alberson took the photos below from Caney Creek around 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 12, 2019.
No Serious Attempt to Compact Materials
Alberson says he observed mine employees dumping fill in the breach, but that he saw no attempt to compact the material with rollers. They did tamp it down with the bucket of the track hoe, however. Here’s what it looked like at about 2PM Saturday from Caney Creek. Not very tamped.
Compare Width of Road to Length of Total Breach
The photo below shows the breach in question before repairs. I shot it from a helicopter on 10.2.2019.
Civil Engineer’s Impression of Repairs
Alberson’s brother is a civil engineer. He and another engineer I talked to both felt the repairs were inadequate. When asked what the repairs should consist of, Alberson’s brother suggested:
He said if they don’t “roll-pack” it, regardless of whether it is made of clay or not, it will fail.
Request for Required Engineering Docs
I requested the TCEQ to provide the engineering documents for the repairs that they demand, consistent with section 301 of their regulations for dikes and levees. Because of the weekend, they could not supply them immediately, but agreed to look and see if they existed.
Impact of “Dike” Failures on Families South of Mine
In the meantime, I interviewed three families below the mine today. They and physical evidence all indicated that water swept through the mine from north to south during Imelda. They said the MINE then flooded them before White Oak or Caney Creek rose. The water from the mine rose so quickly that:
More on their stories in future posts. In the meantime, here are some photos of the heartbreaking devastation they suffered.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/12/2019 with help from Josh Alberson and Charlie Fahrmeier
774 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 23 since Imelda
The thoughts expressed in this post represent my opinions on matters of public interest and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the State of Texas.
Texas Attorney General Files Charges Against Triple PG Sand Mine
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) announced today that the Texas Attorney General has filed a petition and application for injunctive relief against the Triple PG Sand Development, L.L.C. of Kingwood. The charges allege violations of Chapter 26 of the Texas Water Code and related TCEQ rules pertaining to the discharge of industrial waste and process wastewater.
For the full text of the attorney general’s filing which includes TCEQ investigations dating back to 2015, click here.
Note that the latest TCEQ investigation only covers breaches that investigators could reach safely from the ground. However, from the air, I observed many more breaches.
Maximum Possible Penalties
If past performance is any indication of the future, the mine is likely to receive a slap on the wrist. Fines against sand mines from the TCEQ have averaged around $800. However, this is more serious. The attorney general is involved. And stiffer penalties are now available thanks to a new law sponsored by State Representative Dan Huberty in the last legislation session.
If a court levies maximum penalties against this mine, the owners could be liable for $1.1 million plus $25,000 per day for each day breaches in the mine’s dikes remain open. That could easily exceed another half million dollars.
In addition, Ramiro Garcia, head of enforcement for the TCEQ, said the commission disengaged from settlement talks with Triple PG regarding May breaches. Those breaches also took weeks to patch. If lumped in with this, the court could assess yet another half million dollars.
Claim Patches in May Breaches Made with Clay
According to the results of the May investigation, investigators believe the mine patched its breaches with clay. But photos of the failed dikes indicate they were made from sand.
About Chapter 26 of Water Code
Chapter 26 covers water quality control and industrial waste water. It defines “Industrial waste” to mean “…waterborne liquid, gaseous, or solid substances that result from any process of industry, manufacturing, trade, or business.” Its definition of “pollutant” includes “dredged spoils.”
“Pollution” also means “the alteration of the physical, thermal, chemical, or biological quality of, or the contamination of, any water in the state that renders the water harmful, detrimental, or injurious to humans, animal life, vegetation, or property or to public health, safety, or welfare, or impairs the usefulness or the public enjoyment of the water for any lawful or reasonable purpose.”
The mine is in the confluence of two floodways: White Oak Creek and Caney Creek. Both are tributaries to Lake Houston, the source of drinking water for millions of people. The purpose of Chapter 26: “to maintain the quality of water in the state consistent with the public health and enjoyment…”
The code considers the possible adverse effect that illegal discharges might have on receiving bodies of water, such as Lake Houston, and on parks, such as East End Park in Kingwood.
Although the Code permits some discharges. However, “Discharges covered by the general permit will not include a discharge of pollutants that will cause significant adverse effects to water quality.”
Chapter 26 stretches more than 200 pages and 58,000 words. So I won’t attempt to summarize it here, except to say that it also includes the disposal of chlorides. One former executive for the City of Houston’s public works department told me that he personally witnessed many sand mines intentionally breaching dikes under the cover of floods to eliminate chloride buildups in their wash water.
About TCEQ Rules Pertaining to Industrial Waste
It is not immediately clear which TCEQ rules pertaining to the discharge of industrial waste and process wastewater are part of the charges. The TCEQ also enforces water quality rules for rivers and lakes.
“Companies that pollute Texas waterways will be held accountable,” says TCEQ Executive Director Toby Baker. “Every business has a responsibility to respect laws that protect the environment and public health, and I applaud the attorney general for acting swiftly on my request to hold Triple P.G. Sand Development fully responsible.”
The State of Texas requests that the court grant the following relief as allowed by law:
Repeated Dike Failures
The dikes of the Triple PG Sand Mine do not appear to comply with TCEQ rules for dike construction. They are built from sand and have failed repeatedly in multiple locations. However, the TCEQ rules clearly state, that structural integrity is the number one concern. “Construction must be based upon sound engineering principles. Structural integrity must withstand any waters which the levee or other improvement is intended to restrain or carry, considering all topographic features, including existing levees.”
The Attorney General’s charges do not mention dike construction. Reading the requirements, however, it will be interesting to see which professional engineer signed off on the plans. The requirements state:
“§301.36. Plans To Bear Seal of Engineer.“
“All preliminary plans and other plans which are submitted with an application for approval of a levee or other improvement shall be prepared by or under the direction of a registered professional engineer and signed by the registered professional engineer whose seal shall appear upon or be affixed thereto.”
Stay tuned. More investigation to follow.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/11/2019, with thanks to Dan Huberty, Charlie Fahrmeier and Josh Alberson
773 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 22 after Imelda
All thoughts in this post represent my opinions on matters of public safety and policy. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
Post-Dredging Survey Shows Average Depth in West Fork Mouth Bar Area To Be 5.579 Feet
A recent mouth bar survey shows that dangers still likely lurk just beneath the surface. Here’s why they will only get worse if we don’t take action.
Corps Survey Shows Average Depth South of Mouth Bar
An Army Corps survey of the West Fork Mouth Bar area conducted on 9/4/2019 shows that the average depth after dredging is a bit more than five and a half feet. And that’s only because they surveyed some areas pretty far downstream from the mouth bar.
The survey contains 21,766 sampling points. You can review them all here, in this 507-page PDF. Unfortunately, my web host does not allow posting of Excel files. So you can’t explore the data as conveniently as you might like.
The Corps did not measure the mouth bar itself, which appears to be about four feet high in places. So that also skewed the data. And I am sure that the shallow areas near the bar prevented the survey boat from acquiring information there to. For instance, there are no recorded depths less that one foot.
Scattergram of All Soundings
This graph helps visualize where the bulk of the values lie as well as the extremes and range.
Distribution of Values
A bar graph is another way to visualize the distribution of values. On the vertical axis, we can see the number of soundings. On the horizontal axis, we can see the depth in feet. About half the survey points fell within the 5-6 foot range. That’s not surprising for a survey with an average depth of about 5.5 feet.
Sedimentation from Imelda Not Included
It’s important to realize that the Corps conducted this survey AFTER dredging, but BEFORE Imelda. We saw how much sediment came down the East Fork – enough to raise the bottom depth from 18 feet to 3 or 4 feet between Luce Bayou and Royal Shores, according to boater Josh Alberson.
West Fork Flooding
Of course, Imelda did not dump as much rain on the West Fork. So flooding there was less severe. But it still ranked as a “major flood.”
At US59, the flood peaked at about 8PM on September 19th as you can see in the graph below from the Harris County Flood Warning System.
This map from Jeff Lindner, meteorologist for Harris County Flood Control, shows the distribution of rainfall across Harris and souther Montgomery Counties, plus streams that flooded. The purple color applied to the West Fork indicates it experienced a major flood. Note: these are 48-HOUR rain totals.
In fact, I have heard reports of the river flooding streets in Atasocita Point and Fosters Mill, long after the peak of the storm. Other areas may also have flooded.
Imelda’s floodwaters also ruptured a number of sand mine dikes on the West Fork. They then carried a significant amount of sediment downstream. I took the shot below on 10/2, almost two weeks after the storm. It shows the convergence of Spring Creek and the West Fork, just west of the US59 bridge. Note the huge difference in the color of water between the two streams.
That’s, in part, thanks to breaches like the one below in West Fork sand mines that were still open long after the flood.
You could see the impact downstream.
What does all this mean?
The Corps has shortened the ramp between where it stopped dredging in Phase I and where it started dredging the mouth bar area. While they increased the conveyance by a minor amount, water will hit an underwater wall when it gets to the mouth bar. It’s like herding water into a box canyon. If the City were to lower the lake by 5.5 feet, you would see a sediment dam about a half mile long.
Despite dredging three feet, the mouth bar in its current state will still contribute to flooding…in my opinion.
The Great Lakes Dredge has been anchored at the mouth bar for a month and a half. Recently, a crane showed up at the Army Corps command post opposite Marina Drive in Forest Cove. One can only wonder whether Great Lakes will pull their dredge out of the river like Callan did last month.
The Value of Self-Reliance
If dredger(s) have to remobilize at a later date, the cost could eat up close to half of the money earmarked for dredging by the State and County. Mobilization in Phase I cost approximately $18 million.
FEMA and the Corps have refused to dredge more than the 500,000 cubic yards that they already have. Nevertheless, Stephen Costello, the mayor’s flood czar, is making one more plea for reconsideration.
The City needs to put up some of its own money out of that billion dollars we’ve paid in drainage fees to:
I find it incredible that after two years of arguing about this, no one has yet modeled the effects of the mouth bar on flooding and shared it with the world.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/10/2019
772 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 21 since Imelda
The thoughts expressed in this post represent my 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.