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                                     "When we try to pick out anything
                                                by itself, we find it
                                                hitched to everything else
                                                in the universe."
                                                                              -John Muir

                            COASTAL BEND      South Texas Uranium News
              

FEBRUARY 2008   NEWSLETTER

UPCOMING EVENTS

*FEBRUARY 11, MONDAY.  MEETING TOGETHER WITH THE BAYS

                             FOUNDATION; TAMU-CC, TRUAN NRC BUILDING

                             SOCIAL AT 5 PM, PROGRAM AT 6 PM

            PROGRAM:  EMERGENCY RESPONSE…A PANEL WILL

                            PRESENT VARIOUS ASPECTS OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE.

*FEBRUARY  19, TUESDAY.  REGULAR TUESDAY LUNCHEON PLANNING

                             MEETING.  CENTRAL LIBRARY (205 COMANCHE) AT

                              11:30 AM TO 1 PM.  BROWN BAG.  ALL WELCOME.

             TOPICS: TXDOT SUPER HIGHWAY (i-69); REPORTS ON RECENT\                   

                             URANIUM MINING AND PROPOSED NUCLEAR PLANT                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                .                             ACTIVITIES.  COMMITTEE REPORTS

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COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIR

This month we will try another way to contact our members

Unfortunately we do not have everyone’s e-mail so many of you will be out-of-the loop.  Next month we will again send out a newsletter via slow mail which is much more expensive.  The printing costs have gone up and postage is also up.  About one half of the groups in Texas have taken this route to lower their costs.

 This past month has been very busy with many important events taking place.  First of all, the Lone Star ExCom had their meeting and chose the priorities for the coming two years.  They added reference to the biggest problem we have here in south Texas,  This is uranium mining, especially in Goliad County.  Lone Star and, of course, all of south Texas is concerned because the mining is over the aquifer which is used for drinking water in Goliad County .   Mining is also taking place, or permits are on the drawing board in Kleberg and Duval Counties.  Mina Williams, Venice Scheurich, and Ginger Cook from our Group have spent countless hours researching these activities and appearing before regulatory agencies. 

Hal Suter and Teresa Carrillo represent our Group on the ExCom.  Teresa will head the mining committee section and Hal will do the same for trade issues.

The Lone Star ExCom also continued their listing of their high priorities the efforts to moderate air and water pollution.  Clean Air and Clean Water continue to be of highest priority.  Joyce Jarmon, Edie Cosgrove and Pat Suter work with industry in this area.

The current issue in Texas is the Dept. of Transportation attempts to build what is called the TransTexas Corridor which is part of the U.S. plan for a 12-lane highway from Laredo, Texas to Canada.  Spurs of this road would go along HWY 77 from Brownsville to Houston and from Laredo to Corpus Christi.     Hal Suter and  I will attend the two public hearings in this area.  The hearing here in Corpus Christi will be on February 14 at the Omni Hotel Bayfront beginning at 5:30 pm.  If you can, please attend this hearing to learn first hand what is planned and also to hear the public comments.  One of the primary objections to this road is the tremendous amount of land which would be under concrete.   Another objection is that the road is expected to be a toll road.

Pat Suter

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MARK YOUR CALENDAR.  EARTH DAY / BAY DAY WILL BE

CELEBRATED ON APRIL 19 AT COLE PARK.  WE WILL HAVE A BOOTH AND COULD USE SOME HELP.

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THE CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI PROMISES TO REACTIVATE THE RECYCLE COMMITTEE.    Let me know if you are interested in serving on this committee.   Remember that each household pays $12 per month for recycling as part of the solid waste bill, so if you are not recycling, you are throwing it all away.

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SIERRA CLUB ENDORSES JUAN ESCOBAR

The Political Committee of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club has endorsed State Representative Juan Escobar for reelection as State Representative for District 43 in the March 4 Democratic Primary. Representative Escobar who received an award from the Sierra Club for his work in preserving citizen’s rights before state agencies in the uranium mining controversy has not surprisingly drawn an opponent backed by the uranium mining industry and Hugo Berlanga, a lobbyist for uranium interests. Early voting begins February 19 and it is crucial for our members in Kingsville and elsewhere in District 43 to get behind Escobar’s reelection campaign. There is no republican opponent so that if Representative Escobar can get by his opponent fro South Padre Island he will be home free and the environment will retain a champion in the legislature.

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JANUARY MEETING MINUTES 2008

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COASTAL BEND SIERRA CLUB - January 2008 Meeting Minutes

The Coastal Bend Sierra Club met on Tuesday, January 15 from 11:30 am until 1:00 pm at the Central Library, 805 Comanche Street. After calling the meeting to order, Chairperson Pat Suter mentioned that the minutes of previous meetings are on our website. In the absence of Treasurer Teresa Carrillo, Chairperson Pat Suter read the treasurer’s report. Our Coastal Bend group has received $388 from Lone Star Sierra due to the court settlement to which they were a party.

The next item of business was to elect officers for the coming year. After some discussion, Hal Suter moved that the current officers be elected to serve another year. The motion was seconded by Senator Carlos Truan. The motion carried unanimously.

Senator Truan volunteered to serve as membership recruitment chairman under the condition that all officers, and Joyce Jarmon, Edith Cosgrove, and Hal Suter would serve as members of the committee. Everyone agreed to participate.

Political Committee Chair Hal Suter reported that there would not be much local primary election activity this year. However, State Representative Juan Escobar of District 43, who was honored by the Lone Star Sierra Chapter for his work in the 80^th session of the Texas Legislature, will have an opponent in the primary. Hal Suter reported that the Lone Star Sierra Executive Committee will hold its summer meeting in this area, probably at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute at Port Aransas.

Joyce Jarmon, Edith Cosgrove, and Pat Suter attended last week’s meeting of the Long-Term Health Care Committee. They reported that Vincent Torres, TCEQ toxicologist, presented a program on TCEQ’s work to determine the effect of combined chemical releases.

Mina Williams, Venice Scheurich, and Pat Suter continue to monitor uranium exploration/mining activity in the Coastal Bend Area. They attended a Public Meeting hosted by TCEQ in Duval County last week, and also participated in a Lone Star Sierra-sponsored meeting in Austin on January 12^th which dealt with current South Texas uranium issues.

Pat Suter reported that the city of Corpus Christi is hiring a clean city specialist. One of the major duties of this staff member will be to reestablish recycling as an important city project. Pat also stated that last night’s Coastal Bend Bays Foundation meeting was well attended and the topic of discussion was Smart Growth in Urban Areas. Next month’s CBBF Forum will focus on emergency preparation for such events as hurricanes and oil spells. It will be held the second Monday in February.

Submitted by Venice Scheurich


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                          COASTAL BEND GROUP

                       EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Pat Suter	852-7938	Chairman
phsuter@stx.rr.com
Mina Williams	882-1179	V.Chairman
Teresa Carrillo	361-672-4703	Treasurer
Venice Scheurich	241-4289	Secretary
Hal Suter	852-7938	Lone Star Ch. Rep.
COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Recycling	993-3737	Kenn Jobe
Venice Scheurich	241-4289	Conservation
Bill Alling	289-9090	Air Quality
Kathy Griffith	578-5291	Membership/Publicity
Hal Suter and Mina Williams	852-7938	Political
Hal Suter	852-7938	Walks
Hal Suter Teresa Carrillo	852-7938	Rep. to Lone Star Ch.
Kathy Griffith	578-5291	Field Trips
Teresa Carrillo	882-3439	Field Trips
Cheryl McGrath		Webmaster

  Cheryl McGrath      Webmaster
  csmcgrath@earthlink.net             

..........................................................................................................................  

      Addresses:

• Texas State Legislature Online
  
  CORPUS CHRISTI MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL
  
  Mayor Henry Garrett                                           District 1 Bill Kelly
  Business: 826-3100                                               Business: 888-6600
  Mobile: 850-3113                                                  Mobile: 815-7314
  email: Lindale@cctexas.com                               email: BILL@BILLKELLYONLINE.COM
  
  District 2 John Marez
  Business:
  Mobile:
  email: JOHNMAREZDISTRICT2@YAHOO.COM
  
  District 3 Pricilla Leal                                         District 4 Mike McCutchon
  Home: 853-1748                                                  Business: 883-6211
  Mobile:537-1746                                                 Mobile: 853-4745
  email: pricillalealatdistrict3@yahoo.com           email: MMCUTCH@STX.RR.COM

District 5 Larry Elizondo                                    At Large: Nelda Martinez
Home: 844-5259                                                  Business: 779-7938
Mobile: 991-2680                                                Mobile (city) 826-3105
email: LRElizondoSr@Hotmail.com                   email: nelda@neldamartinez.com

At Large: Melody Cooper
Business: 887-8014
Mobile: 74-4170
email: JOE@MELODYCOOPERLAW.COM

At Large: Mike Hummell
Business: 883-3563
Home: 906-0782
email: mhummell@HDHLawFirm.com
       
         
STATE  ELECTED OFFICIALS ADDRESSES

Hon. Solomon Ortiz                         State Rep. ____
House Office Bldg.                           P.O. Box 2910  
Washington, D.C. 20515-4315       Austin, TX 78768-2910
                                                                Solomon Ortiz, Jr.
                                                                Abel Herrero
                                                                Juan Garcia


Hon. Kay Bailey Hutchison            Sen. John Cornyn
 Senate Office Building                   Senate Office Building
 Washington, D.C. 20510                Washington, D.C. 20510

        Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa    Commissioner Jerry Patterson
        P.O. Box 12068                            GLO 1700 Congress Ave.
        Austin, TX 78711-2068                 Austin, Texas 78701

         Commissioner (Chairman)                                          
         TCEQ                                       
         P.O. Box 13087                      
         Austin, TX 78711        

        FEDERAL

        President George Bush
        The White House
        Washington, DC
        president@white-house.gov
                                             
                             

Coastal Bend Sierra Club E-Mail

This page was last updated on 02/21/08.

 Protect America's Environment.
For our families, for our future.
       
A Philosophy of Stewardship               
The Sierra Club's statement of Purpose is:  To explore, enjoy and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.

As a grassroots-based organization, we rely on individuals for our resources, talent, and energy.  Our members are our most important assets.   


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