PORT ARANSAS – As a desalination plant on Harbor Island gets closer to reality, opponents can also celebrate.
The Port of Corpus Christi recently concluded the “environmentally conservative approach” is to put the intake for the proposed plant offshore, instead of in the ship channel.
“The intake on a desal plant is the most destructive item,” said Port Aransas Mayor Charles Bujan. “It can kills millions and millions of fish when it sucks those fish in to the plant process.”
Opponents feared putting the intake in the channel would disrupt a sensitive ecosystem.
“This channel has always been the path through which millions of baby crabs, fish, and shrimp moved into the bay system,” said Bujan.
Bujan opposed putting the intake in the channel. He says the port’s decision only answers half of his questions.
“That still, however, leaves us with the outflow,” said Bujan.
The concern with outflow is the amount of brine going back into the water. That outflow is still slated to be in the ship channel, but Port Aransas officials have requested a hearing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
As of now, no hearing has been granted by the TCEQ.
