CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – In the last 18 months, residents have had four water crises. The most recent experience, on December 14, 2016, was more serious because the chemical Indulin AA-86 escaped into the water system.
The chemical is said to cause a burning sensation of the skin and can be very dangerous once it enters the bodily organs. It’s a chemical that could not be tested by Corpus water standards, so it had to be shipped to labs in Houston for testing.
At least in water crises of the past, residents could boil the water for use, but not this time. As a consequence of the crisis several schools, restaurants, and other businesses closed, not to mention hotel reservations and other events.
The water ban did not get to residents fast enough, so by the time it got to them at 1:30 a.m. on December 14, many residents got up in the morning without learning of the news until after they bathed, cooked, had breakfast, and washed dishes. At least 12 people were reported ill as a result.
The confusion and general chaos coming on the heels of the November 8 elections which included new city council members along with new mayor Dan McQueen, became more tense when many residents found themselves with no access to bottled water in stores where shelves rapidly emptied.
San Antonio and Houston responded by sending bottled water in trailers to Corpus, where it was distributed at some of the charitable centers in the city.
What is very depressing is that before the water ban was announced on December 14, there had been three other crises that same month: on December 1, 7 and 12, when observers saw a rusty brown color in the water system. Since the coloring disappeared as quickly as it appeared, officials did not inform the public.
City officials are not saying just exactly who is responsible for the water contamination, but talk in City Hall focuses on Valero Energy Corp., which rents property to Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions, which operates in Valero’s refinery complex and is the area from which the water contamination originated. The issue is whether there was a backflow lacking a one-way valve in the company’s mixing tanks (known as a backflow preventer) or whether the preventer was there, but was defective.
Incidentally, Mayor McQueen resigned on January 18 after 37 days in office. Apparently, the boiling water in the kitchen was too hot for him. In the midst of the crisis, he was charged with racism, sexism, and lying about his academic credentials.
So, we wait for a new election.
