Cleanup under way in 462,000-gallon oil spill off Port Arthur

CNN) -- Crews removed about 46,000 gallons of oil from waters near Port Arthur, Texas, on Sunday, roughly 10 percent of the oil spilled a day earlier when a tanker collided with two barges, a U.S. Coast Guard officer said.

An estimated 462,000 gallons of crude oil leaked from barrels aboard the tanker, forcing the closure of the port in southern Texas, Petty Officer Larry Chambers told CNN. The Sabine Neches Waterway near Port Arthur also was closed. It was unclear Sunday when the port, about 100 miles east of Houston, Texas, will reopen or when crews will finish the cleanup, he said.

"We certainly want it to be done as soon as possible, but with that said, safety is the main issue," Chambers said. "We're not going to open the port until it's determined that vessels can pass through cleanly, safely and not cause any further damage."

No injuries were reported when the Exxon Mobile-chartered tanker -- the 807-foot Eagle Otome -- collided Saturday with two barges being towed by a tug boat. The tanker was carrying about 570,000 gallons of crude oil to Exxon's Beaumont refinery when it crashed, Exxon Mobile spokesman Kevin Allexon told CNN. The cause of the crash was unknown, but is under investigation, he said.

"We are very concerned about how this could have happened," Allexon said. "We are very concerned about the impact to the environment, to the community. No one wants to see this happen."

The port is primarily for industrial use, but it is not far from wetlands. None of the nearby marshes or sensitive wildlife were adversely affected, Chambers said, but one heron was "oiled." The bird was alive and undergoing treatment, he said.

An evacuation order that was imposed in a 50-block area around the port after the collision was lifted. That area was evacuated Saturday out of caution, as the tanker was carrying a type of oil containing sulfide.

Fifteen skimming vessels sailed the area recovering the oil and workers dropped more than 45,000 feet of boom -- fencing-like material -- to keep the oil from spreading, Chambers said. More than 500 people were involved in containing and cleaning the spill, said Darrell Wilson, spokesman for Malaysia-based AET Tanker Holdings, the owner of the tanker.

The biggest oil spill in U.S. history occurred in 1989 when the Exxon Valdez ran aground on a reef in the Gulf of Alaska, resulting in the spill of 11 million gallons of crude.

Committee discusses farmers market improvements

By JENNIFER SUMMER
Updated: 01.19.10
To accommodate the vendors and guests at the Humble Farmers Market, the Lake Houston Chamber of Commerce Beautification Committee is making a few changes to the hours of operation and expanding to Kingwood.

The committee approved the decision to make the hours of operation for the market every Wednesday from 3 until 7 p.m at the group’s monthly meeting Jan. 11.

When the weather is warmer, the committee knows there will be more vendors and guests than there currently are.

“Despite the weather, we have great vendors and the community is very receptive to the farmers market. In the spring, we will have even more vendors and more people visiting the market so we are very excited about what is to come for the Humble Farmers Market,” Tom Cook, chairman of the committee, said.

The Beautification Committee recently hired Lois Bean as the market manager and she is responsible for making sure the market runs smoothly and everything is set up properly.

The committee also discussed the possibility of expanding the farmers market to include a second location in Kingwood.

Tony Austin of the Town Center Park Association talked about the second location of the farmers market being held in Town Center Park in Kingwood.

According to city of Houston laws and regulations, the farmers market vendors must be set up on pavement, so the committee is going to look into how they may be able to work out the farmers market for it to be held in Town Center.

“What we are trying to figure out is what constitutes as pavement and what are our options for us to have the farmers market here,” Cook said.

“The idea for having a farmers market in Kingwood is not to hurt the market in Humble but to offer a place for Kingwood residents, who may not be able to get to Humble, a place where they can buy fresh produce and other items.”

The Beautification Committee and Austin will work together to figure out if it will work out for the farmers market to be held in Town Center Park in Kingwood every Thursday.

If the Kingwood farmers market is approved and the plans are worked out, the market would not be started until the weather was warmer around March.

Additionally, the committee is working on banners for the farmers market which will give it more publicity and remind the community when the market is held.

In other business, the Lake Houston Chamber’s Beautification Committee will partner with Keep Kingwood Green in recognizing businesses in the Humble, Kingwood and Atascocita areas who are “green” and eco-friendly.

Keep Kingwood Green would recognize “green” businesses in the area while the Beautification Committee would hand out awards for the most eco-friendly businesses.

The two groups will develop the requirements and list of businesses which fit in this category.

The next meeting of the Lake Houston Chamber of Commerce Beautification Committee will be Feb. 8 at 4 p.m. at the chamber offices.

For more information, call 281-446-2118.

Two students hospitalized after stabbing at Humble High School

By STEFANIE THOMAS
Updated: 01.12.10
Two Humble High School students were hospitalized after a stabbing that occurred on school grounds around 4 p.m. Jan. 12.

According to Karen Collier, spokeswoman for Humble Independent School District, a 15-year-old girl attacked a 17-year-old fellow student with a double-edged cutting instrument, inflicting injuries to the victim’s face and upper torso and cutting her own hands in the process.

“It appears [the suspect] used a double-sided razor implement, something you might use to cut carpet or sheet rock,” Collier said. “I think this is something the student may have brought from home. There is no indication at this time that she got it at school.”

Collier said the two students had problems in with each other in the past but the reason for the stabbing is presently unknown.

According to Collier, the victim was transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital downtown, while the juvenile suspect is being treated at Memorial Hermann Northeast Hospital. The victim’s condition is unknown at this time.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim tonight. It is a shock for everyone at a campus when violence occurs because students and employees see it as a protected environment,” Collier said. “Sadly, that was not the case today. I want to urge students to tell an adult when they have conflicts because help is available.”

Collier said there are no metal detectors at Humble High School to deter students from bringing weapons to school, but a police officer is on site during school hours as a safety precaution.

District says list is unfair

Four Humble ISD schools were included on a list of the “worst schools in Texas” released by the Texas Education Agency Dec. 15.

North Belt, Park Lakes and Whispering Pines elementaries and Humble High School were listed on the report released by the state agency. All four are campuses where half or more of the student population failed the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests. TAKS is the statewide test to measure competencies in a number of subject areas. The list, the 2010-2011 Public Education Grant List, shows all schools in Texas with 50 percent or less of the students passing any reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, or science TAKS test, were rated “academically unacceptable” in 2007, 2008 or 2009.

Humble ISD Superintendent Dr. Guy Sconzo defended the district’s placement on the list and explained contextual inaccuracies.

“I think it was the most ridiculous and totally unfair headline and article I’ve ever seen,” Sconzo said of a blog entry on Chron.com.

“Any campus that has been identified as ‘academically unacceptable’ in one of any of the past three years is on that TEA list. Hence, I see no reason for anyone to put any credence in the article. We actually have campuses on that list that were ‘academically recognized’ since Park Lakes’ rating for 2009 increased to ‘acceptable’ and Whispering Pines has progressed to ‘recognized,’” Sconzo explained. The 2009 ratings for North Belt Elementary and Humble High School were ‘unacceptable.’ Students at North Belt fell below the state standard in one of 25 scores, and therefore failed to meet state ratings. Humble High School failed to meet the standard due to a completion rate, rather than test scores. Results of the Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, which were released in August, indicate that the district as a whole has met the required federal criteria and was rated ‘acceptable.’

Established in 2001 under the No Child Left Behind Act, all public schools are evaluated for annual progress. Federal regulations are based on participation and passing rates on state math and English tests, high school graduation rates and attendance rates from elementary and middle schools.

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