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SAN YGNACIO
FALCON LAKE
Oilfield waste
Officials say Mexican drowned
Firm wants dump near town’s water supply By JJ VELASQUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
SAN YGNACIO — As South Texas’s oilfield epicenter shifts from Zapata and Hidalgo counties to counties in the Eagle Ford Shale, officials here are asking why San Ygnacio and its residents have to bear the brunt of waste expelled from those areas. Last year, the county officially announced its opposition to Texas Energy Services’ plan to expand its operations in San Ygnacio and include a new oilfield waste facility less than a mile from residential areas and the community’s drinking water source. On Feb. 13, the San Ygnacio Civic Center will host a town hall meeting at 6:30 p.m. to discuss residents’ concerns. “We certainly support the oil and gas industry, but there is a limit to what we can do,” County Judge Joe Rathmell said. “This company is being unreasonable for wanting to build a site that is so close to the people of
San Ygnacio.” Rathmell said he thinks the counties that produce oilfield waste should be responsible for treating and disposing of it. The Commissioner’s Court officially opposed the oilfield service company’s permit application a year ago. Under the plan, Texas Energy Services would expand on its current saltwater injection facility east of San Ygnacio to include an oilfield waste site for drilling mud and other such waste to be disposed of. The application is being reviewed by the Railroad Commission of Texas, the agency that regulates the state oil and gas industry and can approve permit applications. The county commissioners are also in the process of drafting an ordinance against further waste sites near residential areas, county officials said. Rathmell said the county’s primary concern lies in protecting the health of its residents, especially
those who live in the Valle Verde subdivision, the closest neighborhood to the proposed facility. Because the oilfield service company is proposing to dump its chemicals onto the surface, whereas other waste is sometimes injected into cement wells, runoff and seepage are concerns of the county. But a spokesman for Texas Energy Services told the San Antonio Express-News last week those concerns are unfounded, with the engineering of the facility reducing the risk of contamination. A representative from the company could not be reached before press time. The proposed expansion would run afoul of Zapata County’s plan to boost eco-tourism in the area, said Hector Uribe, an attorney who offers legal counseling to the county. Uribe, of Austin, helped advise county officials in their plan to make
See OILFIELD PAGE 10A
TAKING TO THE SKIES ON HIS SKATEBOARD
By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Zapata County Pct. 2 Justice of the Peace Juana Maria Gutierrez said this week the man found floating on Falcon Lake waters a couple of weeks ago died of asphyxiation due to drowning. On Thursday afternoon, Gutierrez identified the man as Jose Alberto Vasquez Garcia, a 41-year-old man from Mexico. Ana Laura Benavides C., a Mexican consulate spokeswoman in Laredo, said consulate officials are yet to track down family members. According to Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr., officials found an identification card from Nuevo Laredo on the man. On Jan. 24, the Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office received a call reporting a body floating in the lake. The location given was approximately four miles upriver from Beacon Lodge. At 4:50 p.m., Gutierrez
pronounced the person dead. An autopsy was requested from Webb County Medical Examiner Corinne Stern. After receiving reports from Stern, Gutierrez said the man’s cause of death was drowning. A day after Vasquez Garcia’s body was found, Gonzalez told Laredo Morning Times the body did not show any signs of foul play. Vasquez Garcia’s body was the second recovered from the lake since Dec. 29, when a pro angler posted on his Facebook page that he found human remains in the Mexican waters of Falcon Lake, north of San Ygnacio. At first, people believed that might have been David Hartley, a jet skier gunned down by drug trafficking organization members while sightseeing in Guerrero Viejo. Days later, Mexican authorities confirmed the remains were not Hartley’s. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
VEHICLE FATALITY
Laredoans among dead in fatal collision By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Photo by Danny Zaragoza | The Zapata Times
Skaters take advantage of the week’s nice South Texas weather at Blas Castañeda Park in Laredo on Tuesday afternoon.
A three-vehicle collision killed three people — two from Laredo — last week on U.S. 83 near the Starr and Zapata county lines, according to a Department of Public Safety spokesman. DPS officials identified the victims as Edith Ledezma Martinez, 27, and Sergio Arellano, 30. A McAllen man who also died at the scene was identified as Jose Alfredo Ruiz Cruz, 33. Cpl. Frank Hernandez, a DPS spokesman, said Ruiz Cruz was heading north on U.S. 83. At about 4:55 p.m., he lost control of his GMC Envoy and collided head-on with a Chevy pickup towing a trailer. An F150 rear-ended the Envoy. “The driver (of the F150) could not avoid the collision,” Hernandez said, not-
SERGIO ARRELLANO: Multi-vehicle crash claims life of Laredo man. EDITH LEDEZMA MARTINEZ: Laredoan died in multi-vehicle collision. ing the man sustained minor injuries. Arellano, Ledezma Martinez and Ruiz Cruz all died at the scene, according to DPS officials. According to their obituaries, both Ledezma Martinez and Arellano were born in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. However, they’ve been Laredo residents for most of their lives. Both people are survived by numerous friends and relatives. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)