The Sierra Club’s request for a temporary restraining order against several
Central Texas municipalities, businesses, and even the U.S. Defense Department,
to limit pumping out of the Edwards Aquifer, failed to win support in court
this week. Citing the severe drought conditions, the possibility of a declining
water level in the aquifer, and the lack of sufficient spring flow out of the
aquifer that supports several endangered species, the group attempted to get
the U.S. District court to force the largest users to cut their pumping by 20%
above their daily winter average use. At the hearing Wednesday, July 17 in
Pecos where the request was filed, District Judge Lucius Bunton did ask that
the parties try to negotiate an agreement for action on water conservation, and
scheduled another hearing for August 1. At that time, Bunton will review the
status of the agreement, and the recommendations of the Edwards Aquifer
Authority (EAA), a new body formed by the State Legislature to enact aquifer
water policy and drought management plans.
The Sierra Club sued several major users on the southern end of the aquifer,
the largest municipality being the City of San Antonio, which relies solely
upon the aquifer for its water supply. Other defendants include San Marcos, New
Braunfels, Hondo, Uvalde, Leon Valley, the Bexar Metropolitan Water District,
and several industrial and agricultural irrigation pumpers. The group’s cause
for alarm is obvious: The drought conditions have reduced base flow into the
aquifer, putting San Marcos and Comal Springs in danger. As reported in last
week’s “Environs,” Comal — which feeds the Guadalupe River and is home to
several federally listed endangered species — is running at one-third its
normal flow rate, and is in imminent danger of running dry.
Sierra Club State Director Ken Kramer said in a statement Wednesday afternoon
that “although the judge decided not to grant a temporary restraining order
today, he agreed with us that reasonable and prudent steps must be taken to
reduce pumping from the Edwards in order to protect the aquifer and maintain
the springflows.” It seems the Sierra Club will bow out of this effort now, but
only, Kramer says, “as long as the Authority [EAA] is able to act quickly and
effectively to achieve reductions that will protect the aquifer and the
springs…” — L.C.B.
The Truth Hurts
Freeport-McMoRan’s legal problems at its gold and copper mine in Irian Jayacontinue, despite claims to the contrary by the company. LEMASA, the leadership
council of the region’s Amungme tribe, has formally rejected Freeport’s offer
to allocate 1% of the company’s annual revenues to a trust fund for the benefit
of local tribal groups. (Freeport’s 1995 annual revenue was $1.8 billion.) In a
letter dated June 29, four directors of LEMASA, including Tom Beanal, who filed
a $6 billion class action lawsuit against Freeport in April, write that LEMASA
and the Amungme people “unconditionally and absolutely reject” Freeport’s
offer. “We shall never succom [sic] to the offer of bribes, intimidation or
[be] dishonestly induced into accepting PT Freeport Indonesia’s `Settlement
Agreement’.”
The LEMASA statement directly contradicts Freeport’s full-page ad in the local
daily on April 25, which said “Fact: An agreement has been reached with our
Indonesian neighbors. On April 13, in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, Freeport finalized
an agreement with local indigenous leaders to continue the enhancement of
direct benefits to those tribes whose original tribal lands have been impacted
by the company’s operations.” The reality is that another 1,000 indigenous
tribe members have recently joined the class-action suit against Freeport.
Again, Freeport spokesman Bill Collier did not return phone calls seeking
comment. — R.B.
Welcome to Austin:
Say Cheese!
All systems are go, surprisingly, for public art at the Austin-BergstromInternational Airport when it opens in 1998. Concepts for public art such as
“big hair” and cowboy hat engravings on restroom mirrors are planned, despite
the fact that Austin’s Art in Public Places (AIPP) program caught hell, and was
nearly abolished, during its last two attempts to endow major public art for
the Convention Center and the new terminal at Robert Mueller Airport.
This time around, though, AIPP has not only encountered little controversy,
but will actually get a boost in funding. The ordinance establishing the
program sets aside 1% of construction costs on city public-works projects for
public art, but caps spending on individual construction projects at $200,000.
According to AIPP coordinator Martha Peters, members of the AIPP advisory panel
“asked the city council to consider increasing that cap, which they did.” This
action — sponsored by then-Councilmember Max Nofziger at his last council
meeting in June — allocated a total of $370,000 for seven installations at the
airport, culled from 133 submissions.
At Bergstrom, AIPP avoided the pitfalls that scuttled the Convention Center
and Mueller art projects — all of the artists are from Austin, and none of the
art is flat-out loony. (The big-hair restroom mirrors are small-time compared
to the ant-farm installation concept at Mueller, and the Convention Center
sculpture made of trash.) While the council now has to approve or reject each
of the seven contracts over the next few weeks, the projects have been endorsed
by the AIPP panel, the Austin Arts Commission, and the Airport Advisory Board,
and such consensus usually carries weight with the council.
Other art work the city will fund at Bergstrom includes aviation symbols
rendered in enamel and glass beads, and paintings on glass shaped like luggage.
And, of course, “diverse Austin scenes.” Peters notes, “Not everyone’s going to
like everything, but it’s a fine body of work that will give the new airport a
lot of visual interest.” — M.C.M.
Visions of Green
For a local community group, an empty lot off East 12th will soon be “a placefor storytelling… with something to bring the young and old together. Why do
the same thing again [as other parks]?” That vision, stated by Kat Allison of
the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, better known as
ACORN, might seem a lofty goal for what up to now has served as a city dump,
but the project is already more than halfway completed.
Since the Spring of 1994, ACORN, a coalition that encourages self-start
community efforts, has spearheaded the effort to convert the acre lot into a
park. From the 1920s to the 1970s, the City of Austin dumped incinerator ash
and trash on the site. The lot was also contaminated by deteriorating barrels
of DDT from an unknown origin. An overgrown haven for crime and drug deals, the
site has been a hazard to the residential neighborhood. After the council
denied funding for a cleanup in 1994, at ACORN’S behest, former Councilmember
Brigid Shea pushed through the $200,000 necessary for the environmental
overhaul which has just been completed.
ACORN brought in University of Texas’
Dr. Kent Butler to speak to children
at nearby Simms, Norman, and Ortega Elementary schools about their hopes for
the new park. Their number one request? Surprisingly adult: Clean, safe
bathrooms. Park development costs, starting with bathrooms and benches and
ending with a stage area, are estimated at $700,000. Someday ACORN hopes to see
a community center at Springdale as well.
With new Councilmembers Beverly Griffith and Daryl Slusher now in support of
the Springdale Park, ACORN has a council majority behind funding for its
development. (Eric Mitchell and Jackie Goodman have also pledged their
support.) But the plan will still need private funding, and the group is
looking for donors. If left solely to city funding, the current plans won’t be
completed until 2010. — K.V.
Bike/Peds in the Slow Lane
The Austin Transportation Study (ATS) approved $3.3 million in newtransportation spending at its July 8 meeting, including
$1.49 million for
bicycles and pedestrians,
$1.3 million for repaving sections of Martin
Luther King Blvd., and $610,000 for traffic congestion reduction programs.
Several citizens and ATS members, however, complained about delays in
implementation of previously approved bike and pedestrian projects. State
Representative and ATS member Glen Maxey questioned ATS staff’s recommendation
to use $95,000 of approved bicycle/pedestrian funding for traffic light
synchronization. “Once again bicycle/pedestrian projects are falling to the
wayside to give priority to automobiles,” said Maxey. ATS head planner Mike
Aulick defended the fund transfer, citing the importance of traffic light
synchronization and the need to balance all transportation demands.
The question of delays in implementing non-automobile projects popped up again
when ATS staff reported on the status of a group of federally funded
“enhancements projects” that include improvements to seven hike-and-bike
trails, construction of a pedestrian bridge on Lamar Blvd., and the proposed
Saltillo Plaza in East Austin. The projects were approved in 1994, yet no work
has begun on them. Roger Baker, chair of ROUTE, an alternative transportation
advocacy group, said that the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) ranks
48th in the nation for speed of implementing enhancements projects. ATS planner
Lee Hoy defended TxDOT, reasoning that other states are faster because they are
not allowing local governments to participate in the planning. Wes Burford,
representing TxDOT’s Austin district, added that two enhancements projects were
delayed because of planning conflicts between Capital Metro and city
bureaucracy. Aulick then warned the ATS committee that the city could lose the
enhancements funding if the projects do not go to contract by September,
1997.
In other action, the ATS held a public hearing on two amendments to Austin’s
25-year transportation plan. One amendment would allow a change in Capital
Metro’s proposed light rail alignment, while the other, sponsored by TxDOT,
calls for $1.5 million for preliminary engineering of a high-tech traffic
management center that would include use of surveillance cameras on area
freeways to quickly spot accidents. TxDOT says that more rapid clearance of
wrecked cars from freeway lanes would eliminate much of Austin’s traffic
congestion. However, Baker called the proposal a band-aid approach that fails
to deal with the inherent safety problems on I-35, and suggested that the money
be spent on closing down the highway’s dangerous on-ramps instead. —
N.E.
Quitter!
Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh has announced that he’s quitting hislong-running syndicated show that criticizes and pokes fun at political
liberals. Limbaugh cited disappointment that changes in the syndication
business had resulted in his show being “pushed later and later [in time slots]
and in the process lost a lot of potential audience,” he told the Associated
Press this week. The “Ditto Heads,” as his followers dubbed themselves,
have remained loyal to their leader, but the time slot changes have apparently
thrown off potential new audiences. In Austin, the show runs on the FCN (Fox
Children’s Network) independent affiliate, KVC Channel 13.
KVC Program Assistant Tisha Harris says Limbaugh’s show originally held a noon
and midnight local slot at Fox, but when CBS took over KEYE 42, the show was
moved to KVC. “We tried to fit him in, but 11:30pm [weeknights] was the best we
could do.” Later time slots in the TV business usually indicate slowing
ratings, until finally a show is punted off the air. That’s exactly what
happened here, says Harris. “[Limbaugh] has a huge radio following, but as far
as his popularity on TV goes, he’s produced low ratings. I’m sure he’d rather
quit than suffer being cancelled.” — L.C.B.
This article appears in July 19 • 1996 and July 19 • 1996 (Cover).