County submits disaster declaration in wake of PBC blaze
Sep. 9—In the wake of the fire and flooding at the site of Permian Basin Containers, Ector County has submitted a disaster declaration request to unlock state resources to help people living in the affected area.
The request was submitted to the Texas Department of Emergency Management and a letter was sent to Gov. Greg Abbott. Ector County Judge Dustin Fawcett said reimbursement is possible, "but there are a lot of variables to that."
Permian Basin Containers was located at 8100 N. County Road West. A fire and recent flooding in Ector County has significantly affected the residents' air and water quality in the surrounding areas, a news release detailed. It also has caused health issues for residents.
"After discussion with our state partners including State Rep. Brooks Landgraf, Texas Department of Emergency Management, and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, as well as with constituents who live in the area most affected by the recent fire and floods, we are all in agreement that state assistance is needed to ensure Ector County residents' property and health are both protected moving forward," County Judge Dustin Fawcett said in a news release.
Fawcett said they were getting to the point where they had concerns of the fire lingering and the continuing issue of hot spots, which Odessa Fire Rescue has repeatedly beaten back in the more than a month since the fire.
"But then also we've been seeing some concerning water testing levels and those have been some independent tests alongside what we had Texas A&M Agrilife do, so we're seeing some of those issues with the water quality tests and now we're having some air quality issues after the flood. We don't know what it stirred up, but it wasn't good," Fawcett said before a Monday news conference outside the Ector County Courthouse.
He doesn't know what was in the fire, but there were petrochemicals involved.
"That's our biggest concern is whenever you start seeing the ones like benzene or any of those type of hydrocarbon related products coming through in your water, that's where there's an issue," Fawcett said. "We ran some tests and it was published that they were talking about organics like e coli and all of those that were at your normal levels. That's not what we're worried about. We know what's in our typical water. What we are concerned about is anything like hydrocarbon-related petrochemicals and when you start seeing that there's definitely an issue. We want to identify if we are at hazardous levels" to mitigate it, he added.
Fawcett said they have had "probably a dozen residents" in the area that have contacted County Commissioner Mike Gardner, Ector County Emergency Management Director Wes Carta, or state Rep. Brooks Landgraf, R-Odessa, about these issues. W. Nim Kidd, Texas Department of Emergency Management chief, had a conversation with Landgraf and was asked about the PBC situation, Fawcett said.
"So at that point, I realized it's best to bring in the state. Really all this disaster declaration does is invite them in. They will not come in unless they're invited and you do that via this emergency declaration," Fawcett said.
He added that they can do additional testing if they are seeing concerning levels of chemicals in air or with water. Then those issues can be addressed and they can help bring drinking water to residents.
"We have different stations throughout the state with significant amounts of drinking water that we can ship in and we can have available to them at no cost to the residents and we can provide additional resources to them, living situations and everything else," Fawcett said.
Also, he said there is still a massive clean up to do with the flood.
"So it's kind of a two in one situation," Fawcett said.
On Aug. 27 nearly two dozen people living on Golder Avenue, West Hillmont, 81st and 83rd streets and one business filed a lawsuit against Permian Basin Containers alleging the company was an "environmental disaster waiting to happen" and the recent fires there have caused them to suffer ill health effects, lose their well water and suffer property damage.
According to the lawsuit filed in Ector County District Court, the plaintiffs are also demanding potable water be delivered to their homes in the short term and in the long term "proper remediation and testing of ground water and well water."
They also want air testing, the removal of toxic and harmful debris, the remediation of their property and their health issues to be remedied, the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit states that well water is outside TCEQ's jurisdiction so no state agency is testing the water and those doing the testing for Ector County don't test for dangerous chemicals.
Fawcett said Monday that to his understanding, PBC has not been operating, but they have been in contact with the remediation crews that have been working there through TCEQ.
No one is sure of the cause of the fire. OFR Chief Jason Cotton noted that it's not their jurisdiction to investigate because the site is in the county.
Fawcett said whether people in the area need personal protective equipment is one of the conversations that will be had.
"We're kind of in a no-man's land at this point. We thought that we would have better results by this point. We just simply don't. We thought there would be a better remediation effort and there's not. Rep. Landgraf has been all over. He's done a tremendous job, so has our emergency management team, so has OFR in addressing the hot spots. Everybody's done a very good job. This is one that you want to be overly precautious when it comes to people's health and that's really the situation on this one. A disaster declaration seems drastic, but really we need to look out for the health and welfare of our residents," Fawcett said.
During the news conference he said his message to people living in the area is that they should not have to be going through this.
"Everything that's happened is through no fault of their own other than owning a home near where the site of this fire took place. They did not deserve this and it is the role of government to come in and try to provide the resources possible so that's what we are doing. We hear their calls. We've received those phone calls and especially as it pertains to the health concerns that have popped up in recent days. Whenever we start hearing that there are health concerns of our constituents, you better believe we move here in Ector County. We're going to move and make decisions that benefit those citizens. I'm proud of the efforts that have been ongoing for the past month. Now it's time we need to elevate that, specifically after this flooding. We're on it. We're going to leave no paper unturned and we are going to make sure that they get the resources they need to where they feel comfortable that they are living in healthy conditions. Ultimately, that's the goal," Fawcett said.
For the past 48 days, Mika Hancock and her family have been living out of a camper at Wheeler Drilling & Water Service. Hancock lives at 720 E 81st and her mother lives at 716 W 81st Street.
Being at or near home causes vomiting, headaches and dizziness, among other symptoms, Hancock said. When they move things around it would get a little better, but their air monitors would go off. The smell has infiltrated her car and she said she smells like an oilfield worker. She noted that no one is helping them with expenses.
Her mother's water tested fine, but she hasn't gotten her results back yet. One of her neighbors is gone, her driveway is blocked off and another neighbor's house burned down. Hancock said Landgraf had the West Texas Food Bank bring in a stack of water.
She said the company owner paid for a hotel for two days, but they have been living out of their cars and a camper since then.
Hancock said she has no idea if the disaster declaration will help. She contacted the Red Cross, but was told to call the Salvation Army or a homeless shelter. She has her mother, her daughter, two dogs and a cat.
Mostly, she just wants to know when she can go home.
"I think if they just got it cleaned up ... we could go home. The smell will go away. ...," Hancock said.