Proposed Transmission Line Threatens Texas’ Largest Reservoir 

Houstonian Mike Peppercorn bought property along Lake Livingston in choosing timberland where his family would have privacy and pasture where they could raise cattle for Future Farmers of America projects He and his neighbors with acreage along Barrett s Landing Road all figured that surely this lake which serves as a reservoir for the City of Houston miles south was an invaluable masses stock that would forever be protected That seemed like a safe bet Lake Livingston an enormous impoundment of the Trinity River created in is surrounded by retirement homes ranchettes and sprawling RV parks Part of its shoreline is a popular -acre state park and its waters stocked with bass crappie and catfish are favored by Texas anglers for fishing tournaments The reservoir the largest located entirely in Texas is owned by the Trinity River Authority and is a major source of Houstonians drinking water So it shocked Peppercorn and his neighbors Karl Van Brocklin a retired engineer and Randy and Ginny Lammers when strength giant Entergy Texas Inc ETI proposed building a high-powered electrical transmission line up to miles long that would run right through their properties and the lake itself One of Entergy s favored pathways for the project dubbed the SETEX Area Reliability Passage would cut across about a mile of the reservoir And yet Entergy records show didn t ever bother to inform the City of Houston which gets about percent of the water produced by the reservoir about its proposed lake routes Lammers Peppercorn and Van Brocklin all former Houstonians who regularly gather to share research in a barn-like workshop on Lammers property worry about much more than the impact of unsightly poles and power lines on birds and on the people who live boat and fish here They fear that its construction could unleash toxic threats buried in the lake s sediment that could poison the fish and impair water quality for Houston residents and for everyone downstream All of these routes are miles long Going across the lake is one mile For the safety of everybody s drinking water why go across the water Peppercorn commented in an interview with the Texas Observer Until this small group reached out to Randy Macchi director of Houston Constituents Works city bureaucrats knew nothing about it Entergy s plans call for erecting a variety of steel structures that if one of the lake routes are chosen would be anchored to pilings and stand at least to as much as feet tall above the water and could create a mile-long path of obstacles between and feet wide After being informed by the Barrett s Landing bunch Macchi dispatched a letter of opposition expressing concerns that any road across the lake could adversely impact the city s water supply The construction of powerlines across Lake Livingston could create multiple undesirable scenarios none of which are in the best interest of HPW s customers or the customers of other entities that receive treated lakewater he wrote But the city s letter of opposition arrived too late to be considered Macchi who did not respond to the Texas Observer s request for comment reported KPRC he s outraged that the utility s failure to inform city functionaries shut them out There s a regulatory process and Entergy notified a lot of entities The City of Houston was not one of them And that s troubling because this isn t just a lake it s our the bulk critical water source Neighbors Mike Peppercorn left and Randy Lammers right fear that a proposed electrical line project that may cross Lake Livingston and their neighborhood could stir up contaminated sediment Photo by Lise Olsen The contested project part of Entergy s plans to improve the grid that connects Entergy s power plant in Willis with several counties in East Texas is now under review by an administrative law judge at the State Office of Administrative Hearings By August the judge is expected to make a recommendation on the project to the Texas General Utility Commission But a look at the growing number of opponents to Entergy s proposed Lake Livingston routes shows that Entergy thus far has done little testing to determine how the lake s ecosystem might be affected by the construction or by the power line itself In the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department s comment the agency s wildlife division director Alan Cain remarked that the company had done insufficient work to determine the impact on significant rare or protected species and their associated habitats including alligator snapping turtles and other creatures that live in or near the reservoir along the more than -mile track proposal The letter doesn t specifically mention the Livingston reservoir Lake Livingston may look pristine Indeed park representatives boast that its shoreline is home to multiple nesting pairs of Bald Eagles Trinity Water Authority officers like to brag that big strides have been made to improve the quality of the river s sometimes turbid water since the passage of the Clean Water Act in But this huge reservoir s waters are still troubled Since it has been listed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality TCEQ as an impaired body of water contaminated by cancer-causing dioxins and PCBs In other words it s one of the lakes and rivers that the state has designated as needing more protection and clean-up to fully comply with the lofty aims of the Clean Water Act In the TCEQ did a limited amount of testing of sediment in the lakebed probing four sites for toxics but those samples are miles away from the proposed passage according to a document posted online For even longer an underfunded Texas fish-testing activity has documented that various of this lake s gar and even its prized species of catfish and bass are essentially too dangerous to be regularly eaten by anyone because of those same carcinogenic contaminants Though Lake Livingston and other East Texas lakes along the Trinity River continue to be popular for anglers the state wellness department has issued periodic advisories warning children and women of child-bearing age not to eat gar and bass or catfish and for all others to limit consumption Surprisingly Cain the Texas Parks and Wildlife official who reviewed the proposed pipeline routes doesn t mention Lake Livingston or the fish studies that the park organization has conducted there over the years The source of the poisons revealed in those fish issues is thought to be contaminated sediment in the bed of the lake sediment that s already frequently disturbed by floods and hurricanes but would be stirred up by the process of excavation and construction of those enormous metal towers and high-powered lines Entergy has also failed to consider that Lake Livingston is used for recreational purposes despite the ubiquitous presence of fishermen boaters and campers according to documents filed by the Trinity River Authority TRA Attorneys representing the TRA which opposes the path through the lake and favors alternatives have objected that there was no discussion of recreational uses of Lake Livingston itself and no discussion of boating or possible citizens safety hazards that would be created The TRA did not at once respond to the Observer s request for comment For its part Entergy insisted in a message published to KPRC that we are committed to transparency and continue to fully participate in the regulatory review process which includes opportunities for society input and review of all routes under consideration The utility company s comment adds it was also committed to complying with all federal and state environmental regulations including any permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act While journey evaluation is ongoing and no final decision has been made each proposed trail including lake and land crossings is being thoroughly assessed based on a number of factors including environmental impact area input engineering feasibility and long-term reliability for our customers Peppercorn argues that Texans who fish live and ultimately drink this water deserve more answers before the PUC approves construction through this large reservoir and popular recreation area He and his neighbors argue that any other highway would be better We want a analysis on the water he explained Observer There s a lot of people who pull water on the Trinity River and on Lake Livingston and not all of them have the sophistication of the City of Houston Why not do the right things The post Proposed Transmission Line Threatens Texas Largest Reservoir appeared first on The Texas Observer