SAND FOR HURRICANE BAGS FROM BROWNSVILLE MINERAL WAREHOUSE, WARREN, OHIO, AND NORWAY WITH LOVE

By Juan Montoya
This time when Ingrid was threatening the Rio Grande Valley off the coast, we got pictures of Cameron County Public Works crews filling bags with river sand.
Next time (and there might be a next time with another storm brewing right this moment in the Yucatan), the sand that county residents receive might be theirs compliments of Brownsville Mineral Warehouse (BMW) at the Port of Brownsville, Essix Resources Inc., of Warren, Ohio, and the olivine sand deposits off the west coast of Norway, south of Ålesund.
The Associated Press reports that an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft is scheduled to investigate a low-pressure system today that’s moving over the Yucatán and has a 70 percent chance of becoming a tropical depression.

When and if it does enter the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, it is projected to slide northward and churn off the coast of northern Tamaulipas and South Texas.

With Cameron County crews stymied by muddy roads to get to the river sand they use to fill the bags dispensed to county residents to keep runoff from flooding caused by the heavy rains, the availability of the Norwegian sand will be welcome, said Pct. 1 commissioner Sofia Benavides.

"Our crews were having problems getting to the sand pits along the river because it was so wet," she said. "With this sand available, we will be able to dispense it to residents without going through that."

The sand, actually crushed olivine, was donated to the county's Public Works Department by Brownsville Mineral Warehouse at the Port of Brownsville. A dispatcher at the company said that they had attempted to donate it several times in the past without success.

"It actually belongs to Essix Resources in Ohio and we used to deliver it to companies in Canada, in Utah, and places in Texas," she said. "It's actually a specialty sand and it's expensive because it's used in the refracting business like sandblasting and foundries to cast molds. But with foundries closing and the industry slowing  down, it was just sitting there."

She estimated that the value of the olivine sand in steel foundries and mills and and the refracting business could approach $250,000 – a quarter of a million dollars.

"At one point we couldn't give it away," she said.

For commissioner Benavides, the gift from BMW, Essix and the sand deposits in Norway is a godsend.

"I'm going to visit them personally and thank them for the donation," she said. "It probably saved them space in their warehouse, but it also will help us assist our residents with protection against flooding their homes. It's a perfect partnership with mutual benefits. We're very appreciative of the donation."

Public Works crews were hauling the sand all day Tuesday. When Pct. 2 commissioner Ernie Hernandez heard about the donation, he directed Public Works supervisors to transfer it all to his materials storage site next to the Rucker-Carrizales Corrections Unit from the storage area in Pct. 1's Oklahoma Road site. Benavides said that she will try to transfer some of it to the combined Pct. 1 and Pct. 2 warehouse on 14th Street in Brownsville to have it available for Brownsville residents and save the county transportation costs to bring it there.

The sand has a greenish hue and cause some workers to wonder whether they might be running any health risks coming into contact with it. However, a cursory review of the literature indicates that their concerns were misplaced.

Essix Resources bills itself as the a leading distributor of a wide range of raw materials and minerals. 

"We are the leading importer of Norwegian Olivine sand North America for the foundry and steel industries. These foundry sands produce superior casting results due to Olivine's unique combination of low, uniform thermal expansion, high refractoriness, and high heat absorption. Consistent grain fineness and chemistries help guarantee the repeatable results necessary to achieve optimal mold and core performance."

Refractories are defined as "non-metallic materials having those chemical and physical properties that make them applicable for structures, or as components of systems, that are exposed to environments above 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

And, to address concerns of county employees, olivine is favored for use by these industries because it is silica-free, meaning that it is not cancer-causing when it blows dry and is inhaled as most other domestic sands are. Olivine deposits have been depleted in the United States and imported from other parts of the world.