A clean sweep UH-Sugar Land led team helping clean Texas coastal waters

To find a fast, efficient way to clear harmful chemicals along the Gulf of Mexico coastline, researchers are turning to something already familiar with the task – several species of the aquatic grasses and rice that feel very much at home in murky coastal waters, according to an online story from the University of Houston.

By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM

With the annual hurricane season beginning June 1, Fort Bend County Judge KP George on Monday officially named Greg Bapst, who had been serving as the county's interim homeland security and emergency management coordinator,

The research team led by University of Houston’s Venkatesh Balan, associate professor of biotechnology in the Cullen College of Engineering’s Division of Technology housed at the UH Sugar Land campus, studies the abilities of these water-loving flora to uptake concentrations of chemicals and heavy metals that unfortunately end up in places where they should not be. Eventually, the researchers also hope to the permanent position. Bapst had been with the Office Homeland Security & Emergency Management since 2021, first as an emergency management specialist and then deputy manager. He was tapped for the interim role in January, after Fort Bend County Commissioners without comment accept- to find helpful uses of the system’s byproducts.

“But first, we must identify which species are best at removing what we don’t want – the chemicals and metals in our coastal water,” Balan said. The Managing Urban Runoff project is funded over three years with a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with $624,000 allocated for UH-based research. It is a collaboration ed the resignation of the former EOC coordinator, Mark Flathouse, tendered in January. The reason for Flathouse's resignation was not made public.

During a press conference at the county's year-old Emergency Operations Center in Richmond, George said Bapst emerged as the best choice to lead of Balan and UH colleagues Xiaonan Shan, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Weihang Zhu, professor of engineering technology; Ram Ray and Gururaj Neelgund of Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU); and Sandeep Kumar of Old Dominion University in Virginia.

Heavy rainstorms often wash chemical fertilizers and soil amendments away from the farmlands, lawns and household gardens where they had been helpful in appropriate amounts. Eventually, the runoff accumulates along the Gulf Coast, including in the PVAMU watershed where the team is at work.

“In the process called eutrophication, the chemical fertilizers and soil amendments feed the algae in watersheds. The result is heavy concentrations of

Fort Bend's emergency operations after an extensive search to fill the permanent slot.

“Greg has a wealth of experience and an enthusiastic outlook for the safety of residents and businesses in our county along with