About 100 people came to state officials to talk desalination. Here's what they said.

A meeting intended for residents to weigh in on a draft desalination permit drew more than 100 people – and frequent shouting – in an hourslong state-sponsored event Thursday night.

At the center of controversy is a draft discharge permit for a city-proposed desalination plant that would be capable of generating as much as 30 million gallons of treated water per day.

If realized, it would be developed at what city of Corpus Christi officials have described as its Inner Harbor site, located at W. Broadway Street and Nueces Bay Boulevard.

The permit, should it be approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, would allow the facility in its first phase to discharge as much as 34.3 million gallons of waste from the water treatment process. It would be discharged into the Inner Harbor Ship Channel in Corpus Christi Bay.

The permit is required to operate a plant. A second permit needed, for water rights, has already been secured by city officials.

About 100 people opposed to the proposed plant – including members of local advocacy group Coastal Action Network – convened a short distance away from the American Bank Center ahead of the meeting, entering the convention center with signs protesting the plant based on environmental questions and concerns about potential impacts on the nearby Hillcrest neighborhood.

About 100 people total addressed the state’s environmental regulatory and city officials on the draft permit for the project, drawing lines that at times were stark.

Roughly 30 people spoke in support of the project, and around 70 against it.

Some of the audience shouted and booed other commenters whose opinions were counter to their position, and at least two people were asked to leave by security guards.

Generally speaking, points of contention included the necessity of increased water supply, the intended beneficiary of boosted resources, the adequacy of environmental studies and a pending federal complaint related to the plant’s proposed location.

Several commenters in opposition asserted that existing research conducted by city officials was insufficient in establishing potential impacts to the bay, demanding a full environmental impact study as well as data on the cumulative effects of several potential desalination plants that are in consideration for development.

The plants “will increase salinity in Corpus Christi Bay, threatening the flora and fauna in that bay,” said Jim Klein, a city councilman and also the president of the Coastal Bend Sierra Club.

“No seawater desal plant discharges brine into a closed bay system such as Corpus Christi Bay,” he said. “It is reckless and irresponsible.”

City officials performed water quality sampling and ambient velocity data as part of their permit request, and the “application is built on reliable and sound science,” said Drew Molly, chief operating officer of Corpus Christi Water.

“Notwithstanding all of the benefits the region will gain from the project, the city’s top priority is protecting the bay and ensuring it remains vibrant,” he said. “Securing our water future is even more important given the ongoing drought conditions here in this part of Texas, which have resulted in our reservoirs being over 70% empty, leading us to implement Stage 2 drought restrictions.”

Some opponents have said the increase in water supply isn’t for population growth, but instead for heavy industrial operations.

TCEQ doesn’t deny permits, said Blanca Parkinson.

“We know this doesn’t mean green soccer fields and restored lake levels,” she said. “We know the projected water demand is for industrial growth, not municipal. And we know that the TCEQ blessed and baptized the application knowing that.”

The plant is intended to benefit the region, both in commercial operations and residential growth, Molly said.

“it’s not just for the benefit of one particular customer class,” he said. “It benefits everybody in the city. This is a new raw water supply, and everybody will pay for it and everybody will benefit.”

Questions have been raised about the selection of the site, adjacent to the historically black Hillcrest neighborhood.

The location was selected among 20 based on “the balance that we had to strike in selecting the location was making sure that it was environmentally sustainable, balancing that with reliable and cost effective,” said city consultant Jason Cocklin.

“What we found was in looking at those 20 sites – both qualitative and quantitative criteria – that the optimal balance was struck at this location between environmental responsibility, reliability and cost effectiveness,” he said.

Several commenters cited an ongoing federal investigation that was prompted by a Civil Rights complaint into the location of the proposed plant. The project should be put on hold pending its conclusion, several speakers said.

“We have not heard the outcome of the Title VI complaint of the discrimination from the Hillcrest neighborhood,” said Claudia Rush, pastor of the Hillcrest-area Brooks AME Worship Center. “So why should this permit be granted?”

Several speakers told officials that they intended to file contested case hearing requests related to the Hillcrest neighborhood. The Hillcrest Neighborhood Association represents the subdivision.

It comes down to a fight for the community, said Elida Castillo.

“We have young children who we want to grow up here,” she said. “We don’t want to move away, we shouldn’t have to move away and I am so tired of people saying, ‘If you don’t like it, move away.’ That is not just. This is our community; this is our home.”

The individuals opposed to plant development is a “very, very small minority,” Bob Landeg told city and state officials.

“This false narrative (that a) mythical industry group is the only group that benefits from it – it is disgusting to me,” he said. “The tens of thousands of people who work in these industries – these are the best-paying, most sought-after, best jobs that we have. It is the lifeblood of this economy and what we need to keep going.”

To view the TCEQ meeting in its entirety, visit the city's YouTube site at http://www.youtube.com/@CCTVCorpusChristi.

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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Corpus Christi desalination plant meeting draws tension, 100 people