Root causes of the "Great Helotes Mulch Fire"

Express-News columnist Carlos Guerra has another compelling column out -- this one on the fiasco surrounding the now infamous mulch fire near Helotes, a small town on the outskirts of San Antonio's sprawl. 

For those who haven't heard, around Christmas, a humongous pile of mulch, three stories high and hundreds of feet long, mysteriously caught fire.  With enough fuel to keep burning for a year, it smoldered for a couple weeks before any serious action was taken against it.  Then, complaints about the deteriorating air quality broke through to the press and local governments.  Now, a professional outfit is trying to douse the smoke.

But even now, how and when this story will end is far from clear.  This overly huge pile of compost, apparently a fire waiting to happen despite earlier assurances from a fire inspector, lies right on top of the recharge zone for the Edwards aquifer.  Now, attempts to suppress the acrid smoke are immensely complicated over concern about contaminating the primary water supply for the entire city of San Antonio. 

Guerra writes:

"I don't think this is an isolated case," [Helotes Mayor Jon] Allan says. "It's just a very big one. And it's a symptom of what is wrong with how the state regulates and enforces its environmental protections."

He has a point. It isn't as if no one foresaw that the brush pile now ablaze had been growing since 1981, or that it might turn into the environmental disaster it is today — and may continue to be for months.

Helotes officials, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the Bexar County fire marshal received complaints about the pile regularly.

...

"Legislators need to look a little more carefully at how Texans are being protected," Allan said, because environmental disasters of this magnitude are possible in many other places.

"We're not going to let that thing burn for a year; that's not acceptable," Allan added. "But we need to work very hard now to bring in the brightest people to figure out what will work here."

Annalisa Peace is executive director of the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, a coalition of local 30 groups that wants stronger aquifer protections. Inadequate environmental protections in Texas, she says, are no accident.

"In Texas, the ability of local governments — cities, counties and groundwater districts — to enact and enforce effective regulations and protections is severely curtailed," Peace says. "Why? Because those who stand to benefit financially from the lack of regulation have way too much influence at the state level."

Gosh, maybe our lawmakers should be made aware of this.

The giant mulch pile, even before it burst into flames, has to be seen to be believed.  It is near the road we use to drive down to Government Canyon State Natural Area, so I've been driving by it for years, wondering what in the world such a towering pile of debris was doing there. 

Mayor Allen, you may remember, was first elected during the Wal-Mart fight in Helotes in 2005 as the leader of the opposition drive.  Now, he has a new battle on his hands.

Comments

[Lisa]

‘It’s JUST wood smoke’.

For those who don’t know what’s in the wood smoke that you’re breathing, you should read the Surgeon Generals report on what’s in 2nd Hand Smoke and understand why laws have been created to protect you from it.

It is dangerous to our health.

Now is the time to panic because wood smoke is hundreds of times more dangerous than cigarette smoke. The government agencies responsible for air quality control have many laws to govern the quality of our air and water. Government employees responsible for enforcing the health and safety of the tax paying citizens depend upon complaints FROM the citizens. If a taxpaying citizen wants official ACTION, they must file a complaint and write the word ‘Complaint’ describing their health problems that have resulted from ‘smoke exposure’. The government officials are then required to respond with an on-site investigation and a written report back to the complainant. The management of this fire has been a typical government response.

First official report was ‘It’s JUST wood smoke, everything is fine’, anticipating that this inaccurate announcement, would prevent any further public complaints, making their cushy government jobs much easier.

If the public had been advised of the truly dangerous elements in wood smoke, such as Benzene, Dioxin, Formaldehyde, and heavy metals, it would have caused public panic and thousands of written complaints which would have caused the government officials to have to earn their salaries.

Wood smoke IS dangerous to our health, especially to our elders and children.

If you can smell it, the damage has started. Short term damage to our health, appears as cold or flu like symptoms, for which there is no effective treatment available.

Long term damage to our health caused from exposure to the chemicals in wood smoke, are nerve damage, irreparable respiratory damage, and gene mutations. Wood smoke has been known to cause asthma, deformities in unborn babies and last but not least CANCER.

Because this has been declared an official disaster, ALL expenses for damage to your health and Your house can be paid for with funds available for disaster relief. All contents of your home should be completely cleaned and decontaminated from the toxic elements from the wood smoke.

The property owner has apparently done everything possible in trying to stop this from becoming a disaster.

Please control your smoke down there, we don’t want it up here in Johnson County.

A concerned mother and Research Specialist,

Lisa LaFosse’
cafsco.com

[jared stone]

Yeah, the mulch fire is totally crazy. Hopefully it will go out before MARCH!...I've found some interesting sites on the subject, but the most random/ridiculous is www.themulchfire.com. I can't believe somebody actually made such a useless site...