As floodwaters worked their way down the East and West Forks of the San Jacinto from last week’s heavy rains, they invaded sand mines on both rivers on Easter Sunday, 2023.
Up to 9 inches of rain fell in the headwaters of both rivers during 3 days from 4/5 to 4/7. Atlas-14 rainfall probability statistics indicate that equals a 5-year rain.
The Lake Conroe Dam intercepted much of the West Fork rain and is now releasing it at about 6400 cubic feet per second. There are no dams on the East Fork and the flooding there appears much worse.
West Fork Near Northpark South Development
Near the Northpark South Development on Sorters Road, the West Fork snakes its way through four square miles of sand mines. In the image below, the Hallett Mine on the right seemed secure. But the abandoned sand mines on the left and top center both opened to the river.
Photo taken 4/9/2023 two days after rain stopped.
East Fork Near FM2090 on 4/9/2023
Normally, the East Fork at 2090 is about 30-40 feet wide – the size of the opening in the woods circled in red below. But today, the river swelled to about 2000 feet wide.
Looking south from over East Fork San Jacinto toward FM2090.Looking East along FM2090 across the East Fork.
As the East Fork rose, it invaded the abandoned Texas Concrete Sand and Gravel Mine in Plum Grove.
Abandoned Texas Concrete Sand and Gravel Plum Grove Mine north of FM2090 between East Fork and FM1010
Water entered the northern end, swept through the mine, and punched through the dikes on the southern end, carrying silt and sand with it. See sequence of pictures below.
Looking N toward northern end of mine.Water entered mine in upper left and cut off house.Water then swept under and around house moving south.Looking S.The water then exited back into the river through several breaches in dikes.Rushing water carrying silt and sand found two more breaches close to 2090. Left unchecked, the force of this water will eventually erode the banks of FM2090.Baptist Church Loop Road south of FM2090 was also underwater.
Mine Fails to Meet Guidelines for Abandonment
This mine does not meet TCEQ guidelines for abandonment. The miners left equipment, including a dredge. They also failed to grade stockpiles, remove buildings, and plant grass. Yet somehow, the TCEQ gave them a pass.
This is the second time in less than two years that this mine has been inundated. The public will bear the cost of dredging all the sand carried downriver.
I guess the miners need the money more than you do.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/9/2023
2049 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/2023/04/20230409-DJI_0542.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=17991200adminadmin2023-04-09 19:10:132023-04-10 17:15:03Swollen San Jacinto East and West Forks Sweep Through Sand Mines
More than a decade after one San Jacinto West Fork sand mine stopped mining, the abandoned mine is still:
Inundated by floods
Leaking silty water into the river from multiple locations
Littered with mining debris
Unrestored.
That Was The Good News
Worse, it has little hope of ever being restored. The West Fork has captured one of the mine’s main pits as predicted two years ago. Now, process wastewater leaks from an upstream mine into the abandoned mine, and from there, into the river.
TACA fondly says that mines CAN be repurposed into lakes that make recreational amenities for residential developments. That’s true. If miners cared. If someone was watching. And if we had regulations that forced reclamation.
Last week, I published a story about an abandoned Texas Concrete Plum Grove plant on the East Fork. Today, I focus on a West Fork mine that used to be operated by River Aggregates as the Porter Sand and Gravel Plant. See below.
Landsat image from 10/28/2017. Comparison of this satellite image and the one below, both from Google Earth, shows that the area inside the large red circle was a settling pond in danger of being captured by the river. And it was.See below.Google Earth image from 12/1/2019, thirteen months later. Mine is outlined in red. Circles represent breaches that I will discuss below.New development on right is Northpark Woods.
The mine in question lies between Sorters-McClellan Road and the West Fork, and just north of the Northpark drainage ditch. It sits immediately west of the new Northpark Woods subdivision. The last image in Google Earth that shows active mining was dated 2008.
Current Images Show Lasting Leaks
Looking southeast. Both ends of the main pond (adjacent to the Hallett mine) have sprouted leaks. This is on the northwest side of the mine.Photo taken 4/21/2019.Looking southwest. The Hallett Mine, above the mine in satellite photos above, is almost overflowing in this image taken on 4/21/2019. It sometimes does overflow. See below.Looking northeast. Top circle shows where the Hallett Mine sometimes leaks into the mine in question. Bottom circle shows where the second mine then leaks into the West Fork (in the right foreground).Photo taken 4/21/2019.At the other (southeastern) end of the same pond, river migration cut into the wall that separated the mine from the West Fork. The pond now constantly leaks into the West Fork.Photo taken 4/21/2019.Here’s how it looks from the reverse angle. Looking east toward Northpark Woods development in upper right next to Northpark Drainage Ditch Photo taken 4/21/2019.Compare this with the photo below.
River Migration Led to Transformation
On September 14, 2017, I photographed the same mine from the same angle. Here’s how it looked then. Note that a narrow strip of land only a few feet wide separated the mine from the river at that time.
As the images above show, sometime between 10/28/2017 and 12/1/2019, the West Fork migrated into the mine’s settling pond. The breach then allowed the mine’s wastewater and wastewater from surrounding ponds to drain into the West Fork.
In 2018, on the first anniversary of Hurricane Harvey, I discussed the mine above in a post about river migration. The post said, “At the current rate, without human intervention, river migration should capture the mine … in about three years.” It took less than that.
The abandoned mine will not be much of an amenity for buyers in Northpark Woods. The forests and wetlands that once made this area such an ecologically rich place to explore are gone forever. So are the deer and the fish.
But downstream residents have it worse. They receive all the sediment flowing out of such mines and clogging the river. They must spend hundreds of millions of dollars to restore conveyance of the river so their homes and businesses don’t flood.
There are two lessons to take away from this and other abandoned mines. We need legislation that mandates:
Greater setbacks from rivers for mines. Get them out of the meander belt.
Posting of performance bonds the guarantee reclamation before miners start mining.
Miners can and do sometimes simply ignore the promises they made to restore the land before they got their permit to start mining. When they do, they leave us with a barren moonscape. Littered with craters. And a lasting legacy of loss.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/11/2020
986 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/2020/05/20200421-RJR_1003.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2020-05-11 09:16:482020-05-11 18:37:49Abandoned Sand Mines Leave Lasting Legacy of Loss in Southeast Texas
