CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — On Thursday, The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) held a much anticipated public comment meeting at the American Bank Center. The City of Corpus Christi's Inner Harbor Seawater Desalination Plant was the subject of discussion, specifically their permit to discharge from the desalination process
It was a contentious meeting that began with a protest against desalination by a large environmental group. They marched into the meeting drawing in attention and voicing their desire to not have seawater desalination in Corpus Christi. The groups energy continued through the meeting causing dozens of disruptions, breaking rules of decorum and holding up the meeting.
The City of Corpus Christi selected the Inner Harbor for their first desalination plant. The facility would be located in the Hillcrest Neighborhood and produce 30 million gallons of water a day. The discharge permit was applied for in 2020 and remains one of the permits still needed to operate the facility.
According to the permit, the city would not exceed discharging 51.5 million gallons per day of water treatment waste, when the facility is fully completed.
TCEQ's meeting consisted of an informal question and answer period. That was followed by the formal comment period where all comments made will be taken under consideration for the permit. Over 100 people gave their comments, both sides being heard.
Many people that spoke for the passage of the permit spoke on progress and protecting the future of the city.
“Seawater desalinization has been implemented in cities around the world and it’s time for Texas to move forward with a water supply source other than groundwater,” Darcy Schroeder said.
Some spoke about preventing emergencies that are developing in other parts of the country.
“You look at Utah, they’re looking to pipe water from the Pacific Ocean and you’ve got lots of communities that they're water scarcity and they’re trucking water. Because that’s what you do when you have a family and there’s no water,” Justin McKenzie said.
Those that spoke in opposition talked a lot about the potential environmental impact of discharging brine into the water.
City Council Members Sylvia Campos and Jim Klein were among those people.
“A full blown environmental impact study is needed to determine consequences of this project. And, that has not been done so far. Lacking that, the responsible thing is to reject this permit,” Klein said on behalf of the Sierra Club.
Another claim made by many against the desalination plant was that the water produced from desalination will only benefit the industries that use Corpus Christi Water. That has not been stated by any city officials on the record.
“The desal plant would only be for the benefit of heavy industry, yet residents will be expected to pay for it in higher taxes and higher water bills,” Patty Jones said.
Drew Molly, Chief Operating Officer of Corpus Christi Water has stated that there will be some impact to the water rate but what that is, is not yet known.
Jones also brought up another issue against the city's desalination plant.
"The Hillcrest Residents have said they don't want this plant as it would threaten the health, safety and well being of their community. Public hearings have not been held in the Hillcrest neighborhood. There is a pending Title 6 complaint against the city from this neighborhood for environmental racism," Jones said.
No decisions were made at this meeting. Molly said there's been no date scheduled for the meeting to determine the fate of the discharge permit. He also said there's no telling when that meeting will be scheduled.
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