A problem with tainted, colored water that has plagued the communities served by the Military Highway Water Supply Corporation (MHWSC) for almost a decade may have its source in arsenic contamination, researchers say.
And unlike San Pedro, adjacent to the City of Brownsville' Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) and to the Brownsville Public Utilities Board, those communities have no one to turn to to solve their water needs.
In order to learn the extent of the arsenic-contamination problem in the MHWSC water system, Texas A&M and the Methodist Healthcare Ministries came up with $1.5 million in funding last January to understand arsenic and other heavy metals in Valley drinking water. They said the Valley made the top of the list after complaints and state-documented hotspots convinced the study organizers to focus on this area.
Residents of San Pedro had complained about the water quality as far back as 2015, but it wasn't until 2018 that then-Cameron County Commissioner Alex Dominguez suggested that BPUB allow them to hook up with the Brownsville water system while the Military Highway system completed a loop in their system that would allow the water they provided the community to loop back west and remove the stagnation in the eastern part.
George E. Lazaro of Fulcrum Consulting Services, the engineer for MHWSC projects, told the Brownsville Herald then that the permanent solution for the San Pedro section was the water board’s loop project, which will allow flow back west from that community and eliminate the system’s dead end.
But while San Pedro may have gotten a respite from the contamination, records of the MHWSC also show arsenic levels spiked the Santa Maria taps four times in the last two years.
"Looks like coffee," said Herardo Jimenez, a customer who lives in the area of Santa Maria told KRGV 5.News. He recently replaced his washing machine because the previous one was stained red with mineral deposits.
Multiple residents complained their clothes were regularly stained from the water. Others say they've developed health issues. When San Pedro residents addressed the board back in 2018, they also showed MHWSC board children who had developed skin problems because of their contact with the system's water.
"Looks like coffee," said Herardo Jimenez, a customer who lives in the area of Santa Maria told KRGV 5.News. He recently replaced his washing machine because the previous one was stained red with mineral deposits.
Multiple residents complained their clothes were regularly stained from the water. Others say they've developed health issues. When San Pedro residents addressed the board back in 2018, they also showed MHWSC board children who had developed skin problems because of their contact with the system's water.
Arsenic is linked to cancer by multiple health organizations. Long-term exposure increases the severity of symptoms.
In January, the university announced the start of a partnership with Methodist Healthcare Ministries and started looking into those hotspots that the Texas Commission Environmental Quality identified.
This June, they started sampling water at 30 homes and biomonitoring residents, checking their hair and nail samples.
The Military Highway Water Supply Corporation refused to speak on the issue and referred to their legal counsel attorneys at O'Hanlon Dermath and Castillo, who also did not reply to several requests for comment and information from the media.
13 comments:
Juan, Bofe: One more time - no one cares about the poor or about the tiny towns around here.
no one, ese.
facts.
Have you ever tested the drinking water from Brownsville PUB its terrible also.Even with a water filter its still BAD!!
Austin worse of all. Taste funky.
Fact: too many dead bodies in the Rio Grande. How much garbage that the Mexicans throw every day into the Rio. How about the chemicals been throw from the industrial waste materials business? The Mexican president is high on weed or dope from his cartel bosses telling him, don't worry, be happy.
Have not drank any pub water, ever since they found esa RATA elected official flooding in one of their tanks. pobresito. que no haria
August 16, 2023 at 10:30 AM
Your racist republican governor lapdog placed chemically made red ballons and poison metal objects, so shut da f&&& up pendejo mamon.
to be fair, I think the only thing I use faucet for is washing the dishes, but in this day in age, living in the USA, that is absurd, something needs to be done for those people out there.
What a sad situation. Someone needs to get a law suit going. Unfortunately, the poor and uneducated must suffer.
Juan the problem at Military highway water corp is very simple, the water users- households need to elect new distrcit officer to replace these old PRI guys and girls that are on the board, as long as these old board members are there NOTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE, AND THE WATER WILL CONTINUE TO BE BAD, START WITH THAT VENTO LADY. These old board guard memebrs are always trying to see how they can make moeny for themselves, trips to water conferences that produvce nothing and at the end of the day the hell with the customers, perhaps the TCEQ or the State of Texas need too come in and take over in order to clean up the show. How long has this lawsuit from the san pedro folks being going on? Well thats too long. Maybe PUB should just take it over all along US 281-Military highway route. my 2 cents worh, just saying
Uears ago PUB did a test of the water in that area as a back up water source and found the water to be okay.
She was going to lower his pants and show them the bud but chickened out.
In this day in age with wuas hoppong the 911 and all ya can't be too careful and all.
August 16, 2023 at 5:12 AM
Who asked you pendejo take care of tu mama que anda en las cantinas mamando pendejo par de jotitos.
Juan if MHWSC uses well water which they do except for one plant, of course you are going to have minerals and chemicals, poisons etc in the water, and of course customers will get sick. Its that simple. This has been going on for years since the MHWSC was open back in the early 1970's, all these areas are farming communities and farming acreage, you really dont you think the farmers put plenty of chemicals and pesticides in the ground? I dont think we need a rocket scientist (Space X) to figure that one out. chon
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