Corpus Christi awaits water test results
Many now told it’s OK for baths but unsafe to drink
CORPUS CHRISTI — Chris Phelan and Roni Vela loaded several cases of water into the back of a red Suburban and drove away from their makeshift stand in front of city hall.
On Saturday, the third day that large swaths of Corpus Christi residents were without access to running water, the pair headed toward the home of Olga Reyna after the 63-yearold woman reached out to them through Facebook because no one in her family could lug water.
While city workers distributed more than 20,000 cases of bottled water from several locations Saturday, not everyone in Corpus Christi had the means or know how to get there. For the Greater Good, a grassroots organization formed earlier this year in reaction to repeated boil water notices that Phelan and Vela are involved in, passed out water and mader personal deliveries to families like Reyna’s.
By Friday, water restrictions were lifted on the outskirts of the city. In other parts of the city, residents could bathe and clean with the water, but they still couldn’t drink it. But through Saturday, a full restriction on water use remained in effect for downtown Corpus Christi, as the city awaited the results from 30 samples sent to Houston for testing by the Environmental Protection Agency.
“We know the citizens are hurting,” said City Councilman Greg Smith at an afternoon news conference.
City officials still do not definitively know if any chemicals from Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions Inc. leaked into the local water supply, or how much. They did not provide information on four unconfirmed reports of symptoms consistent with exposure to Indulin AA-86, which the company processed nearby.
A TCEQ report obtained Friday indicates that a combination of Indulin AA-86 and hydrochloric acid leaked into the water supply. Indulin is an asphalt-emulsifying agent that’s corrosive and can burn the eyes, skin and respiratory tract if a person comes into contact with concentrated amounts. The amber liquid is considered a hazardous material by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
“The risk is from zero to infinity,” Mayor Dan McQueen said. “The risk is unidentified right now.”
As city, state and federal officials continued to assess the situation, members of For the Greater Good set up shop once again, strategically placing their folding table in front of City Hall and near three homeless shelters. Across the street, passengers for city and Greyhound buses waited at the city’s largest bus stop, where water fountains were covered with black trash bags and printed signs.
“Do not use water until further notice.”