# Harbor Island Desalination Facility



## Fly Junkie (Jun 6, 2018)

Hey guys! We need to get this stopped. Once construction begins it’s too late. It will cause the ruin of a beautiful natural resource we all love.


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## Matts (Sep 2, 2015)

I've filled out the TCEQ form. I recommend everyone look at this closely. This area needs to be protected. Way too much in the way of native sea grass estuary, mangroves, etc in this area to add more industry. In case you all don't know what Harbor Island is......that's smack in the middle of Light House Lakes.......a terrible place for more industry.
Matt


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## mrbacklash (Nov 1, 2008)

Matts said:


> I've filled out the TCEQ form. I recommend everyone look at this closely. This area needs to be protected. Way too much in the way of native sea grass estuary, mangroves, etc in this area to add more industry. In case you all don't know what Harbor Island is......that's smack in the middle of Light House Lakes.......a terrible place for more industry.
> Matt


I would say smack dab in the middle of LHL is an over exaggeration, Harbor Island is on the south side of the Aransas Channel not the north side where LHL is. And the discharge is on the ship channel side where I would venture to guess the majority of the discharge would flow out the jetties with the tide and dissipate. Not saying that it is right or wrong but let’s paint the whole picture not just one side of it.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

mrbacklash said:


> I would say smack dab in the middle of LHL is an over exaggeration, Harbor Island is on the south side of the Aransas Channel not the north side where LHL is. And the discharge is on the ship channel side where I would venture to guess the majority of the discharge would flow out the jetties with the tide and dissipate. Not saying that it is right or wrong but let’s paint the whole picture not just one side of it.


Naa, none of that water from the ship channel flows over the adjacent flats...


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## mrbacklash (Nov 1, 2008)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Naa, none of that water from the ship channel flows over the adjacent flats...


I would assume so, but as nit picky as the TGLO is I would highly doubt they would allow something to go in if it was going to do drastic damage to the ecosystem, you never know a higher salinity could bring in other fish. I am all for preserving the bays but we all need to look at both sides of the issue as well.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

mrbacklash said:


> I would assume so, but as nit picky as the TGLO is I would highly doubt they would allow something to go in if it was going to do drastic damage to the ecosystem, you never know a higher salinity could bring in other fish. I am all for preserving the bays but we all need to look at both sides of the issue as well.


Bwahaha, we still have oyster boats raking huge reefs flat then allowing them to move to new areas to drag them flat as well and it’s legal. Without live oysters filtering our bay water the ecosystem will collapse. The good thing about the Lighthouse Lakes area is oyster boats can’t reach most of the reefs so they are protected.
Hyper saline water being introduced at that volume is not natural by any means. If it “brings in” other fish then the ones that are already there will most likely be negatively effected.


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## Bruce J (Mar 4, 2018)

And we also have the Port of Corpus Christi’s “Channel Improvement Project”...


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## mrbacklash (Nov 1, 2008)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Bwahaha, we still have oyster boats raking huge reefs flat then allowing them to move to new areas to drag them flat as well and it’s legal. Without live oysters filtering our bay water the ecosystem will collapse. The good thing about the Lighthouse Lakes area is oyster boats can’t reach most of the reefs so they are protected.
> Hyper saline water being introduced at that volume is not natural by any means. If it “brings in” other fish then the ones that are already there will most likely be negatively effected.


Very true about the oyster boats, they sure can destroy an area I live in the Sabine Lake area now and there are hardly any oysters due to over harvesting a long time ago from what I have read we have the muddiest water I have ever seen.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

mrbacklash said:


> Very true about the oyster boats, they sure can destroy an area I live in the Sabine Lake area now and there are hardly any oysters due to over harvesting a long time ago from what I have read we have the muddiest water I have ever seen.


A bay without oysters is like running your vehicle or air conditioner without a filter.


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## mrbacklash (Nov 1, 2008)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> A bay without oysters is like running your vehicle or air conditioner without a filter.


Haha exactly!


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## hipshot (Sep 29, 2018)

*"And the discharge is on the ship channel side where I would venture to guess the majority of the discharge would flow out the jetties with the tide and dissipate."

Hmmmmm............ they're only going to discharge on outgoing tides? May we quote you on that?*


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## mrbacklash (Nov 1, 2008)

hipshot said:


> *"And the discharge is on the ship channel side where I would venture to guess the majority of the discharge would flow out the jetties with the tide and dissipate."
> 
> Hmmmmm............ they're only going to discharge on outgoing tides? May we quote you on that?*


ok........


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## Fly Junkie (Jun 6, 2018)

Guys... the whole picture is, trout, redfish, flounder, and tarpon fry must pass thru the jetties. This super saline discharge will definitely change the water. Also, the intake will also have an effect.
The more we look at the whole picture the worse it gets.


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

Fly Junkie said:


> Guys... the whole picture is, trout, redfish, flounder, and tarpon fry must pass thru the jetties. This super saline discharge will definitely change the water. Also, the intake will also have an effect.
> The more we look at the whole picture the worse it gets.


Redfish, flounder, and sheepshead fry migrate into our bay estuaries to grow to sexual maturity and complete the cycle. Salinity at natural and manmade shipping jetties varies with every large rainfall or drought event and the migration continues to the slowly eroding and compromised estuaries. Compared to the waterfront development, long term effects of dams, and exponential effects of rising sea level, the small desalinization plant is insignificant to sustaining local fin fish populations. And of course we all know that red drum fry thrive in the beautiful, hyper saline, sea grasses of the Laguna Madre south of Corpus Christi. So fly junkie, let's hope you do not live on what was once an estuary margin in Port Aransas and if you do, you do everything possible to offset the impact.


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## EdK13 (Oct 3, 2013)

They said they preliminarily determined that it would not cause environmental damage to the water, more or less. *Preliminarily? Does preliminarily mean after plant 1-2-3-4? Feelz like Florida in.. *


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## Matts (Sep 2, 2015)

mrbacklash said:


> I would say smack dab in the middle of LHL is an over exaggeration, Harbor Island is on the south side of the Aransas Channel not the north side where LHL is. And the discharge is on the ship channel side where I would venture to guess the majority of the discharge would flow out the jetties with the tide and dissipate. Not saying that it is right or wrong but let’s paint the whole picture not just one side of it.


Not really much of an exaggeration when you talk about 95,600,000 gallons of waste water discharge per DAY! Yes, they want to discharge into the CC ship channel but with an incoming tide, that will end up in LHL, Brown and Root, etc on the same day. There is a reason the marine scientists down that way stated they would approve of the facility, IF if was offshore. Oysters, as well as all the other larval forms of fish, crustaceans, etc have narrow salinity ranges.
Best, 
Matt


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## BPancamo (Sep 27, 2013)

Public comment forum in AP on February 28 @7pm. After reading the TCEQ letter, it feels like a bit of a formality, but will be interesting to hear some of the discussion. Just wish they could pipe the discharge offshore also vs puking it onto our flats and estuaries.


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## Derek Radtke (Feb 24, 2018)

Where’s the discussion at in Aransas Pass?


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## BPancamo (Sep 27, 2013)

Derek Radtke said:


> Where’s the discussion at in Aransas Pass?


AP Civic Center


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