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Resident urges city to disclose Dow discharge records and river toxicity during public comment
Summary
A resident told council the 2016 permit and subsequent extensions allow dangerous discharges into the Brazos River and asked the city to publish toxicity data and historical discharge records for public review; council did not take action on the request during the meeting.
During the public-comment portion of the Freeport City Council meeting May 19, resident Manning Rollerson urged the city to inform the public about permits, discharge volumes and toxicity related to Dow Chemical operations and other dischargers on the Brazos River.
Rollerson said Dow has been operating under a 2016 permit and that the permit was extended for 10 years, and he urged the city to provide the community with data reported by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and by Dow. “The water is dangerous for the citizens in Freeport based on Dow and TEC reports,” Rollerson said. He also said eight companies discharge under a single permit tied to Dow and asked how safe the river is given those combined discharges.
Rollerson asked the city to notify the public about toxicity rates and to report what has been discharged in the past 10 years under the permit extension. He also raised separate local drainage concerns for Ward A and urged the city to clean culverts and ditches; he said he had experienced two house floods possibly related to retained water behind railroad bridges.
Council did not take action during the meeting on Rollerson’s request; the comments were recorded during the public-comment period. No city staff response or formal motion on disclosure was made on the record during this session.
Background: Rollerson linked TCEQ and Dow reporting as the basis for his concern and requested transparency from the city on historical discharges and public-safety information.
