On October 18, the Executive Director of TCEQ authorized the issuance of a Draft Permit for the Port’s seawater desalination facility on Harbor Island. The facility will call for intake of seawater from “one of the adjacent channels” at a rate of 150.7 Million Gallons per Day, including aquatic life that may pass by the intake pipes; it will produce 50 MGD of freshwater and then discharge 95.6 MGD of heavy brine into the Corpus Christi Channel.
Just a few reminders: The facility will require enormous amounts of power to operate the pumps. The brine plume will be extensive. Even though the discharge is located at the confluence of the Lydia Ann Channel, the Inner Basin and the Ship Channel, within a short distance of Aransas County, Aransas County is deemed to be “unaffected” by TCEQ. Accordingly, no notice is provided to Aransas County residents. The only public place where you can see the Draft Permit is at La Retama library in Corpus Christi. Residents of Aransas County should be outraged.
The purpose of the facility is to provide fresh water to industry that the Port wants to attract to San Patricio County, specifically to the 3,000 acre Industrial Megaplex at Hwy 35 and 1069 where, presumably, Project(s) Dynamo and Falcon will locate. They will need every drop of this “new” source to operate. And, there is no indication as to who will build it or pay for it.
There have been many comments filed prior to the issuance of the Draft Permit. Additional Comments and requests for a TCEQ Public Meeting in Port Aransas can be made on the TCEQ website (Use Permit # WQ00005253000). Requests for a Contested Case Hearing have also been filed. The Port Aransas Conservancy is on top of this and we join their opposition.
