### Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Total Maximum Daily Load Program



# Improving Water Quality in the Hous ton Ship Channel and Galveston Bay 

# Thirteen TMDLs for PCBs

Water Quality in the Houston Ship Channel and Upper Galveston Bay High concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been detected in fish taken from variousparts of the Houston Ship Channel and Upper Galveston Bay. The PCB concentrations found in fish tissue pose a risk to consumers.

PCBs can affect human health even at low concentrations. Although their manufacture is now banned, PCBs are extremely persistent in the environment. The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS)has consequently issued several consumption advisories for areas of the Houston Ship Channel.

In October 2001, the DSHS issued consumption advisory ADV-20 due to PCBs, for all species of finfish in the Houston Ship Channel upstream of the Lynchburg Ferry crossing and all its contiguous waters, including the San Jacinto River Tidal segment below the U.S. Highway 90 bridge.

Consumption advisory ADV-28 was issued in January 2005 for speckled trout, also known as spotted seatrout or spotted weakfish, in Upper Galveston Bay and the Houston Ship Channel downstream of the Lynchburg Ferry crossing and all its contiguous waters, including Upper Galveston Bay north of a line drawn from Red Bluff Point to Five Mile Cut Marker to Houston Point.

In response to these adviso ries, the TCEQ initiated a total maximum daily load (TMDL) project to determinethe measures necessary to restore the fish consumption use in the Houston Ship Channel and Upper Galveston Bay. A TMDL determines the amount (or load) of a pollutant that a body of water can receive and still support its designated uses. The allowable load is then allocated among the sources of pollution in the watershed, and measures to reduce pollutant loads are developed as necessary.

Learn more about water quality management by reading Clean Water for Texas: Working Together for Water Quality , available on the web at <www.tceq.org/ goto/tmdl/>. 

### Houston Ship Channel and Upper Galveston Bay Watershed This project includes 10 of the 14 classified segments that make up the Houston Ship Channel System: • San Jacinto River Tidal (Segment 1001), Houston Ship Channel (Segments 1005, 1006, 1007), Tabbs Bay (Segment 2426), San Jacinto Bay (Segment 2427), Black Duck Bay (Segment 2428), Scott Bay (Segment 2429), Burnett Bay (Segment 2430) and Barbours Cut (Segment 2436).

The project also includes three segments that are not considered part of the Houston Ship Channel System:• Cedar Bayou Tidal (Segment 0901), Upper Galveston Bay (Segment 2421) and Bayport Channel (Segment 2438).

The Houston Ship Channel is located in the San Jacinto River Basin. Its various branches originate in western and northern areas of the city of Houston, and at the Lake Houston Dam on the San Jacinto River. The Ship Channel is in an area that contains one of the highest densities of petrochem ical facilities in the world and has long been one of the busiest ports in the United States. Houston

Pearland Pasadena Baytown

League

City La Porte Humble

Barrett Crosby

Sheldon

Seabrook Deer Park Aldine

Friendswood Missouri City Highlands Dayton

Kemah 1007 1006 1005 1001

2421

2438

2429

2427

2436 2426 2428 2430 901

Upper Galveston Bay

Manvel

Alvin Texas City

Spring Kingwood

Liberty

Mont Belvieu HARRIS LIB ERTY

CHAMBERS

BRAZORIA

GALVESTON FORT BEND 

# K Impaired Segment Stream Segment Project Watershed

0 3 6 9 12 Miles

March 2010

### TMDL Project Highlights
• QAPPs for monitoring and modeling were develope d and approved in February 2008. The QAPPs have been amended and updated as needed since then. • Collection of new data began in spring of 2008, and wa s completed during 2009. Additional sampling to better characterize changes since Hurricane Ike may be needed. • Public advisory group meetings were held in June 2007, October 2007, August 2008, July 2009, and December 2009

, at the H-GAC Offices in Houston.The Ship Channel and Upper Galveston Bay are tremendo usly important to the surrounding region. The commercial navigation prov ided by the channel initiated and supported the historic growth of the Houston area economy. The channel and facilities in the area are important elements in the economic health of the region, state, and nation. The channel’s production of materials and its inland location are important to the military security of the Un ited States. The headwater reaches, tributaries, and fringes of both the HoustonShip Channel System and Upper Galveston Bay provide recreational opportunities for residents.

The watershed includes portions of the following political jurisdictions:

Counties : Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris

Cities : Houston, Pasadena, Baytown, La Porte, Deer Park



### Public Participation ProcessStakeholders will be informed about the project’s progress through public meetings. The Houston-GalvestonArea Council (H-GAC) is coordinating public participation activities for this projec t. Public meetings for this project are usually concurrent with meetings for the very similar dioxin TMDL project.

H-GAC is also coordinating as needed with the Texas Clean Rivers Program Steering Committee and the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for the San Jacinto River Basin and associated Coastal Basins. 

### For More Information For more information about this project, please visit theTCEQ web site at <www.tceq.org/goto/tmdl/>, or contact one of the following representatives.

TCEQ Contact: Larry Koenig, TMDL Program (512) 239-4533, lkoenig@tceq.state.tx.us

TCEQ Regional Office: Linda Broach, Region 12 - Houston (713) 767-3579

Public Participation: Carl Masterson, Houston-Galveston Area Council, (713) 993-4561, carl.masterson@h-gac.com



### TMDL Development

0 20 40 60 80 100 TMDL Adoption TMDL Allocation Targeted Monitoring Data Review Contract Initiation

Percent Complete 

### TMDL Development Status

Start Date: September 2006 Projected End Date: 2012 TCEQ Adoption: Submitted to EPA Region 6: EPA Re g ion 6 A pp roval:

Visit our web site at : <www.tceq.org/goto/tmdl/>

March 2010