ENVIRONMENTALISTS BE DAMNED !

I'm all for saving the environment. I belong to The Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, Environmental Defense and several other environmental organizations. I recycle newspapers, aluminum cans, glassware and plastics. I do volunteer work at a nature center and, because I love animals, I used to be a volunteer at the Houston zoo. I'm not trying to toot my horn - I just want to show that I am a friend of the environment when I say that too many environmentalists are unreasonable, if not downright nutty.

Case in point. Hurricane Ike, which struck the Texas Gulf Coast just east of Galveston last September, was the third most destructive hurricane to strike the United States. Ike left an estimated $24 billion of property damage, 82 deaths and 202 missing in its wake. Had the storm not taken a last minute turn to the north from its northwest track, it would have made a direct hit on Galveston and Houston and the storm surge would have been far more catastrophic to property and lives.

Galveston Island was protected from Ike's tidal surge by a 10 mile long seawall that is 17 feet high and 16 feet thick at its base. The city, nevertheless, suffered extensive property damage because the tidal surge came up the unprotected entrance to Galveston Bay and then came around to flood the island from its back side. Thousands were left homeless. The devastation was even worse on the western part of the island which is not protected by a seawall even though it was hit by the hurricane's clean side.

William Merrell, a Texas A&M University at Galveston oceanographer, has a plan that will protect Galveston and nearby coastal areas from a hurrican's storm surge. He calls for an extension of the seawall all the way to the western end of Galveston Island and for a new sea wall on the Bolivar Peninsula, which is east of Galveston Bay.

In order to protect Houston and other cities along Galveston Bay, Merrell proposes the construction of huge floodgates at the entrance to the bay, like those used in the Netherlands. He also calls for smaller gates at San Louis Pass and the Intracostal Waterway, both of which are west of Galveston Island.

Much of the Netherlands is at sea level or below. The retractable Dutch floodgates have been very successful in protecting that vulnerable nation from the fury of the North Sea. A floodgate in Texas City, which is between Houston and Galveston, protected that city from Hurricane Ike's storm surge.

The seawall extension on Galveston Island, the new seawall on Bolivar Peninsula, and the flood gates at Galveston Bay, San Louis Pass and the Intracostal Waterway could cost as much as $5 billion. Texas Gov. Perry's Commission for Disaster Recovery and Renewal unanimously recommeded the state funding for a feasibility study of Merrell's plan. Commissioner Bill King, the former mayor of Kemah (a city on Galveston Bay), said: "The benefits are obvious. To protect the entire Gulf Coast from a storm surge would be an incredible benefit."

An incredible benefit? Not according to environmentalists. They are firmly opposed to the flood gates because they "would inhibit fish migration." That doesn't make any sense at all. The gates would only be closed for an approaching hurricane. They would remain open at all other times.

The flood gate opposition is reminiscent of the snail darter controversy which in 1973 delayed construction of the Tellico Dam on the Little Tennessee River. Environmentalists filed a law suit to halt construction of the dam because it would threaten the survival of the snail darter, a tiny little fish. Eventually they lost the lawsuit but the resultant delay came at a great cost to taxpayers.

Another concern about the additonal seawall construction and installation of flood gates was expressed by Jim Blackburn, a prominent environmental attorney. Blackburn announced that the greatest concern environmentalists have about Merrell's plan is that it "would give carte blanche to developers and businesses to continue building in sensitive areas" once additional costal areas are protected from storm surges.

So there you have it. Merrell's plan would protect existing costal properties and save countless lives. Environmentalists would rather see the destruction of existing property and loss of lives in order keep developers at bay and to protect the migration of fish on those few occasions when the flood gates are closed. That is unreasonable and downright nutty.

Environmentalists be damned! My home, the homes of my neighbors, and thousands and thousands of homes in the Houston-Galveston area are threatened every time a hurricane is poised to strike directly at Galveston. Hurricane Ike caused tremendous damage in the Galveston Bay area, but it could have been far worse. We dodged a bullet with Ike because a last minute change in direction caused it to make landfall 15 miles east of Galveston, thus leaving us on the clean side of this deadly storm. The next time we might not be as lucky.