1992 by Jason Weiser

Barnes, Rosemary. “Council Will Take Up Storm-Water Planning.” Corpus Christi Caller Times, January 14, 1992. B1, B2. Accessed April 20, 2022. America’s Historical Newspapers.

City Council meetings to determine what to do about the federally mandated EPA regulations, claiming the city was unable to fund these expensive tests, while admitting at the same time that the city does have an issue with its stormwater being polluted, and that they had failed to even educate the city on the dangers of polluting the stormwater drains, giving an example of someone pouring oil directly into the drain as their primary focus. This shows that the city had yet to prioritize the environmental consequences and was actively fighting against the future of our environment for all citizens.

Access Information: This article can be retrieved through the database America’s Historical Newspapers, available through the TAMU-CC Mary and Jeff Bell Library. Students, faculty, and staff can access this database by logging in through the library, for everyone else, they can check in at the front desk and request to be logged in.

Bull, Becky. “Landfill Regulations Force Regional Service.” Corpus Christi Caller Times, August 24, 1992. A1, A4. Accessed April 27^th, 2022. America’s Historical Newspapers.

News article containing information on the issues that had arisen by 1992 from previous years concerning landfills, includes a map of the Coastal Bend showing the location of multiple landfills planning to close by the end of 1993, 5 others that planned to stay open. The article goes into detail with the flaws of the previous generation’s landfill operations, how they were responsible for one-third of all superfund sites in the US at the time, through lackadaisical standards and general apathy about how and where dangerous materials were handled and disposed of.

Cook, Bob. “Port Approves Hazardous Waste Policy.” Corpus Christi Caller Times, December 16, 1992. C7, C11. Accessed April 24, 2022. America’s Historical Newspapers.

Port approves the use of Encycle/Texas Inc. to transport hazardous waste directly from the port to their location at 5500 Up River Road, Corpus Christi, Texas. Prior to this, the port seems to have not made official contracts with licensed and registered businesses that specialized in removing this dangerous waste. This is important, as it shows both the city starting to make an attempt to follow along with some EPA regulations, and because eventually Encycle would find themselves under attack for their practices by the EPA.

Melghan, Tyrose and Rosemary Barnes. “Grant Funds Household Waste Site.” Corpus Christi Caller Times, November 21, 1992. B1, B2. Accessed March 20, 2022. America’s Historical Newspapers.

City received State funding to create a new waste disposal site for household goods for residents. Shows that anyone living near landfills prior to the eventual building of this site lived near active contamination of hazardous waste from household chemicals. This facility however was to be a simple transfer, or drop-off, facility and not a long-term recycling facility or other permanent measure for the citizens. Once again, this shows the beginning of the city of Corpus Christi taking environmental management more seriously, but at the same time, the city was waiting to receive grant money rather than spend its own in the interests of its citizens.

Pearson, Brian. “Lexington Tested for Toxins.” Corpus Christi Caller Times, April 28^,1992. B3. Accessed April 24^th, 2022. America’s Historical Newspapers.

The city pushed tourism here but refused to delay opening of the museum when dangerous chemicals were present, endangering the lives of all the community. This shows the cities willful disregard for the safety of their citizens, as they heavily advertised their newest attraction in an attempt to make back the early investments into the ship.

Steinberg, Jim. “Handlers Recycle or Dispose of Waste From Across the Country.” Corpus Christi Caller Times, July 26, 1992. G20. American Accessed April 25^th, 2022. America’s Historical Newspapers.

Newspaper article listing multiple of the larger commercial waste handlers inside the Corpus Christi area, including Encycle, who would go own to be contracted to remove waste from the Port of Corpus Christi. They would eventually be sued by the State of Texas and Federal Government for their poor handling practices. This gives us a good idea of the location of these “recycling and disposal” facilities, what hazardous materials they received, and how they presented themselves to the community.

“Refinery to Pay Fine.” Corpus Christi Caller Times, January 23, 1992. C1. Accessed April 26^th, 2022. America’s Historical Newspapers.

This short, small article declares that Southwestern Refining Co. would pay a $22,000 for leaving hazardous waste, noted as “refinery sludge” inside a storage tank for 1.5 times as long as they were allowed. They were told to remove the unauthorized tanks that had also been leaking petroleum products into ground water. Today, this site is listed by the EPA as a Superfund site, as the long-term pollution from Southwestern Refining Co. would far exceed initial findings.

“Spilled Oil Near Bayside is set Afire.” Corpus Christi Caller Times, January 12, 1992. B1. Accessed April 25^th, 2022. America’s Historical Newspapers.

Oil from an Exxon pipeline located near the low-income area of Bayside, Texas, in the Corpus Christi Metropolitan Area, spilled into the soil. Around 750 gallons would end up leaking out before the situation was contained. After about 500 gallons of oil-contaminated soil was removed from the area, the remaining oil was lit on fire to expedite the recovery operation and minimize potential damage to nearby habitats and reduce the likelihood that it would contaminate nearby groundwater.

United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Enforcement. “Enforcement Accomplishments Report FY 1992.” Page 20. Accessed April 19^th, 2022.

Report details a fine given out to the muffler shop “Longoria’s Muffler Shop,” now known as Longoria’s Automotive Repair. The shop, located in the South Side neighborhood, Corpus Christi, a traditionally minority community, was fined $10,080 for removing catalytic converters, a vital piece of emissions equipment found on all new vehicles since 1975. Catalytic converters remove pollutants from the exhaust gasses of running vehicles and removing them contributes greatly to the degradation of the air quality in the local area.

Access to this information can be found online, through the EPA’s official website, nepis.epa.gov. It can be found in the National Service Center for Environmental Publications by looking up Enforcement Accomplishments Report FY 1992.

American GI Forum of Texas. Operation: In Search of Environmental Justice. Corpus Christi: American GI Forum, 1993. Jasso, Gilberto Garcia Collection, Special Collections and Archives, Mary and Jeff Bell Library, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Repository.

Report from the American GI Forum, Corpus Christi, detailing an incident at Oxychem refinery. On the night of October 23^rd, 1992 at approximately 9:30 PM in Robstown, Texas, there was an emission and burning off of 1,3 butadiene into the atmosphere, which turned into a mobile, airborne toxic cloud that went over highly populated sections of the traditionally Hispanic community. Included in the report are letters from two doctors, including Dr. Elovitz, an eye surgeon who reported a significant number of untreated, first-time patients for corneal swelling, an extremely dangerous and potentially blinding affliction, following the incident.

Access Information: This information can be found in the Gilberto Garcia Jasso Collection, through the Special Collections and Archives, Mary and Jeff Bell Library at Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi. Visitors can go upstairs and check into the archive, and request to access the file.

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