February 18, 2009
KIIITV News

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It was a chaotic scene here in this meeting room up on the 6th floor of City Hall. A noisy overflow crowd had security guards, police and the fire marshall all trying to keep the peace.

Judge tommy broyles, "Are you the fire marshall? Yes, what’s the? There’s too many people if you had an incident you can’t get the people out. "

Tommy Broyles is the Austin based judge who’s in charge of the Las Brisas permit hearing case.

Broyles says, "The main issue here is naming parties. The main issue here is naming parties!"

This preliminary meeting was supposed to be a mere formality. All people had to do was to state their name, address and how they would be affected by Las Brisas. If the judge agreed that the plant could have an impact on them, then they would be allowed to testify in the case, but with protest signs everywhere and too many people crowded into this place, thing’s got testy.

Broyles Says, "If I can’t get your cooperation here at the preliminary hearing then for the contested case the formal process to this will be in Austin. I’ve told you okay, that’s what I’m talking about, I will need to ask you to leave and not participate if you’re going to yell and I will have security come and have the DPS come and bar you from this proceeding."

Eventually the tension in the room was broken by some unintended humor.

Resident Salon Rascon says, "Are you talking about party status? Party status? I’m a democrat."

The crowd calmed and Jean Salone was one of the residents who would live near Las Brisas and said she wanted to testify at the plants permit hearing.

Salone says, "I don’t want this plant because I already live by six large refineries and I’ve been affected by the air pollution."

Las Brisas officials believe their permit to build the plant will be okay’ed.

John Upchruch, Managing Partner Chase Power, says, "Once we have closing we feel very confident that the populace will see that the TCEQ has done an excellent job in reviewing this permit."

Eventually the meeting ended at City Hall at noon and picked back up inside the Del Mar Annex at Staples and Kostoryz. There it was decided that the permit hearing will be held from August 3rd through the 14th, it will take place in Corpus Christi.

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Thomas Piland
KRIS-TV Corpus Christi
Updated: Feb 17, 2009

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CORPUS CHRISTI – A debate over the Las Brisas Power Plant got heated at the city council’s public hearing Tuesday morning.

The debate began at City Hall and then moved to the Del Mar Center for Economic Development.

The public hearing was the beginning of a lengthy process that will determine if the Las Brisas Power Plant will be built in Corpus Christi, just north of the ship channel. The hearing had to be moved out of City Hall because there were too many people who wanted to voice their opinion.

An estimated 300-400 people packed the sixth floor conference room at City Hall. It was their chance to give facts on why the proposed Las Brisas Power Plant should or shouldn’t be built.

However, the size of the crowd worried the judge and others.

"The fire marshal [said] we have too many people in here," Judge Tommy Broyles announced at the hearing.

Broyles threatened several times to move the hearing to Austin and warned people about getting out of hand.

"I don’t want this plant because I already live by six large refineries and I’ve been affected by the air pollution," Jean Salone said, who lives in the Hillcrest area.

"Her concerns are air pollution, the affects on her health and dangerous situations like gas entering her home," Salone said.

Throughout the sixth floor signs stated ‘keep the Sparkling City by the Sea free of toxins and mercury’.

"I’m very concerned about my health. We are the 84th most polluted county in the country right now based on the tri data," Dr. Melissa Jarrell said.

After both meetings, Broyles listed the names of about 40 people that will have to cite evidence of how building the Las Brisas Power Plant would impact people’s health.

"It might cause adverse affects to myself, to my neighbors, to wildlife, to fish in the bay," local resident Bill Reeves said.

Broyles said the next hearing would be held sometime in August. The 40 people who were selected from Tuesday’s hearing will then have an opportunity to voice their opposition or support for the project.

Online Reporter: Thomas Piland

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More than 50 gained right to challenge permit

By Dan Kelley
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
Originally published February 17, 2009
Updated February 18, 2009

>>>View photo gallery at Corpus Christi Caller-Times

CORPUS CHRISTI – More than 50 people gained the right to challenge an air permit for the Las Brisas Energy Center Tuesday, in a fast-moving, sometimes-chaotic preliminary hearing that drew a crowd that overwhelmed the initial meeting place.

More than 200 people showed up and most who asked for legal standing to fight the permit received it, after answering a few questions from the judge. The questions included how far away they lived from the plant and why they opposed it. Most said they feared health effects ranging from asthma to being unable to exercise outdoors. Being granted party status means they will have the opportunity to prove whether their concerns are valid at a hearing tentatively scheduled for Aug. 3 to Aug. 14 in Corpus Christi.

Representatives of Las Brisas launched few objections to people seeking party status. The proposed $3 billion petroleum coke-fueled power plant would be the largest industrial investment in Nueces County and the largest source of some pollutants.

John Upchurch, a managing director for Chase Power Development, the developer of the plant, said the threshold to participate was very low.

"If they have the proximity and they want the status, the process allows that," Upchurch said.

Administrative Law Judge Tommy Broyles said the number of parties will likely make for a messy proceeding, and said he’ll work to put the parties in no more than five groups based on common interests. The basis for determining those interests isn’t decided, but Broyles indicated that the large environmental non-profits such as the Sierra Club might form one group, two medical societies that asked for standing might form another and individuals speaking on their own behalf might form a third.

Broyles urged those seeking party status to think carefully about joining the case. He warned that continuing to participate may come with costs, such as being asked to share costs of transcripts. He also warned that people claiming specific health concerns from air pollution might be required to prove that their condition would worsen — which could require expert testimony and the release of medical records.

"Medical questions require a medical expert," Broyles said. "When you get to causation, it specifically requires a toxicologist."

Broyles also indicated that he would not accept evidence opposing the plant on the grounds that it would worsen global warming. He said the Legislature has not authorized him to do so.

Broyles also spent nearly two hours in the afternoon explaining the intricacies of Texas’ administrative laws, explaining the process under which he would make his decision. He explained to at least two members of the audience that he didn’t know if an environmental impact statement had been performed — one hasn’t; officials from Las Brisas have said it isn’t required — and predicted that several members of the group would drop out of proceedings.

"I understand you want to be parties today," Broyles said, "but you won’t want to be parties two months from now."

When the hearing began at 10 a.m. Tuesday, members of the sizeable crowd asked several times to move the proceedings from the overwhelmed sixth-floor City Hall conference room. Eventually, fire marshals appeared and told Broyles that the crowd was too large. Security guards asked several people who could not find seats to leave. Broyles continued with the hearing when there were about 140 people remaining. He told those who did leave to return at 1 p.m. to the Del Mar College Center for Economic Development at 3209 S. Staples St. He reconvened the hearing at that larger facility after lunch.

Some environmentalists expressed concern that moving the hearing violated public notice provisions, but a lawyer for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality declared the move legal.

Broyles’ assistant posted several signs in the City Hall conference room directing people to the new venue.

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Some critics take concerns to council

By Sara Foley
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
Originally published February 17, 2009
Updated February 18, 2009

CORPUS CHRISTI — The overcrowded conditions at a state hearing for a proposed power plant prompted some attendees to take their complaints to the City Council meeting in the same building. Hearing them, Councilman Michael McCutchon asked again to revisit the council’s endorsement of the plant.

Mayor Henry Garrett put him off, but McCutchon appears to have the votes to reopen the discussion.

People who left the hearing for Las Brisas Energy Center came to the council and criticized the decision to hold the hearing in a small room at City Hall at the same time as a council meeting. The proposed petroleum coke-fueled plant drew opposition on environmental grounds after the council endorsed it.

Amanda Torres, a Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi student, told the council she took off work to attend the hearing.

"I came with certain expectations: a big room, with time for everyone to speak," she said. "I was sorely disappointed. All I heard was ruckus."

City Secretary Armando Chapa said the city accommodated state officials who requested the sixth floor conference room for the hearing.

After the group of Las Brisas critics spoke, McCutchon asked the council to reconsider its support of Las Brisas. In January, McCutchon asked Garrett to schedule a time to discuss Las Brisas again, saying he didn’t think the council got all the information before a September vote in favor of the plant. Garrett initially agreed but never put it on a meeting agenda.

After McCutchon’s second request Tuesday, Garrett said McCutchon would need to line up a five-member majority to put the issue on the agenda. The mayor has the authority to put items on the agenda. A council member who can’t get the mayor’s backing for an agenda item would need a council majority to override the mayor.

"It’s being discussed all over town," Garrett said. "I don’t see the need for doing it again."

Five council members told the Caller-Times Tuesday they’d agree to conduct the discussion, although some said they wanted an impartial presentation of information instead of just a debate.

If the council revoked its support of the energy plant, the effect would only be symbolic, much like the resolution the council passed in September in favor of it. The council voted 7-0, with councilmen John Marez and Larry Elizondo absent.

The council resolution was forwarded to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, along with similar resolutions from Nueces County and Port of Corpus Christi commissioners. The resolutions don’t determine whether the plant will be built, but can speed up the permitting process.

Council members Mike Hummell, Marez, Melody Cooper and Priscilla Leal said they would agree to McCutchon’s request. Councilmen Bill Kellyand Larry Elizondo said they wouldn’t. Councilwoman Nelda Martinez said she wants to talk about the issue again, but isn’t sure if it’s the appropriate time.

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10 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall

By Denise Malan
February 15, 2009
Corpus Chrsiti-Caller-Times

At a preliminary hearing Tuesday, a judge will decide what groups and individuals can be parties to a dispute over Las Brisas Energy Center’s air permit application.

No evidence will be heard at the preliminary hearing.

Anyone can ask for standing in the case. The judge assigned to this case, Tommy Broyles, will base his decision on who is potentially more affected than the general public.

In power plant cases, that generally means people who live nearest the proposed site, but interest can be shown in other ways, said Kerry Sullivan, general counsel for the State Office of Administrative Hearings, which will conduct the case.

Contested case hearings are similar to trials in district court. The schedule for the case is likely to be set at Tuesday’s preliminary hearing. The proceedings, known as evidentiary hearings, are normally held in Austin, but parties can ask for them to be moved.

The evidentiary hearing will be to hear arguments about the company’s air permit application pending with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Las Brisas would generate 1,200 megawatts by burning petroleum coke, a residue from oil refining. At $3 billion, Las Brisas would be Nueces County’s largest single investment. It also would be the largest source of some types of pollution.

Local government and economic officials welcome the investment, the added power capacity and the customer for a fuel source produced by local refiners.

Opponents are concerned mostly about the plant’s projected emissions of mercury, lead and tiny particulate matter they say could affect residents’ health and the environment, and carbon dioxide, which has been linked to climate change.

The Clean Economy Coalition, a group of local residents and statewide environmental groups, will ask for standing as an organization. Several members also plan to seek standing as individuals.

Citizens for Environmental Justice, another local group, plans to join the Clean Economy Coalition but might file for standing independently, founder Susie Canales said Friday.

Susie Luna Saldaña, a staff representative with the local American Federation of Teachers union, said she will apply for standing as an individual. The union as a whole will not.

"We don’thave an official position on it at this time," union President Juan Guerra said. "We’re still reviewing comments from both sides."

After the evidentiary hearing, the judge will make a written recommendation to the three commissioners of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality about whether the application meets standards. Those commissioners then will make a final decision on the company’s air permit at an open meeting.

TUESDAY HEARING