Daily Archives: April 12, 2019

Tank fire shortage of toxic PFAS firefighting foam at Houston Ship Channel

This “special foam”: yes, it’s probably the same toxic PFAS chemicals spilled at the Ocala, FL firefighting school and at Moody AFB near Valdosta, GA. Massive ammounts of it were used at the ITC tank farm, with its own docks on Buffalo Bayou into Burnet Bay, leading to Galveston and the Gulf. Then a massive storm hit, closing that Houston Ship Channel and stopping cleanup operations. It’s so bad even the state of Texas and Harris County are suing ITC. Meanwhile, whoever heard of a solar farm fire?

Photo: Click2Houston, 19 March 2019, Fire Grows
Photo: Click2Houston, 19 March 2019, “Fire Grows”.

Firefighters at Houston Chemical Disaster Scrambled for Foam, by Joe Carroll and Kevin Crowley, Bloomberg, March 29, 2019, 12:10 PM EDT Updated on March 29, 2019, 3:18 PM EDT,

Firefighters confronted with the worst Gulf Coast industrial disaster in 14 years had to call on outside sources to augment their supply of the special foam required to extinguish chemical blazes.

Intercontinental Terminal Co. confirmed it appealed to other companies for foam during the fire Continue reading

Videos: Florida Counties meet Valdosta about sewage in rivers and wells 2019-04-10

Update 2019-04-13: Added Task Force Resolution.

Everyone in the dozen downstream Florida counties wants to help Valdosta finish fixing its sewage problems, and all were impressed with the thoroughness of the presentations by Valdosta Utilities Director Darryl Muse. There was even an offer to contact federal representatives and agencies from the elephant in the room, Ken Cornell of Alachua County, which contains half the population of the dozen Task Force Counties (and twice the population of Valdosta and Lowndes County),

[Ken Cornell, Alachua County, offers assistance]
Ken Cornell, Alachua County, offers assistance

Mayor John Gayle said “Valdosta is privileged to be a regional city”, serving eighteen counties and benefitting from sales taxes of all those who shop in Valdosta, and later offered assurances that Valdosta was doing everything it could.

[Assurances --Mayor John Gayle]
Assurances –Mayor John Gayle

They could answer the question from Beth Burnham of Hamilton County about reporting times: less than 24 hours to the state of Georgia.

[Hamilton County Commission District 1 Beth Burnham]
Hamilton County Commission District 1 Beth Burnham

Nonetheless Continue reading