The Harris County Flood Control District wants to relocate 50,000 cubic yards of soil it excavated for a Clear Creek project after it determined it had placed it in a flood risk area, but the district was delayed when it could not reach an agreement with the landowner and the city of Friendswood to remove the dirt.

“A mistake was made, and we are going to correct it,” Matt Zeve, director of operations at the Harris County Flood Control District, said on Feb. 8 after the district reviewed the dirt’s location. As of press time on March 8, the dirt remained and officials were in talks on how to resolve the dispute.

The site is one of a dozen in the Greater Houston area identified for the South Belt Detention Basin project, which is creating basins to reduce flooding in the Clear Creek and Mud Gully/Beamer Ditch watersheds. Another disposal site in Friendswood is at 4600 FM 2351.

The city of Friendswood says its permit does not prevent the flood district from removing the dirt and no action is required on its part to make that happen.

“To the extent the landowner is resisting reaching an agreement with the Flood Control District concerning the removal of the fill material, the permit poses no legal impediment or safe harbor,” reads a city statement sent to Community Impact Newspaper.

According to the district, Friendswood approved a permit for the project contractor to use the site at 2811 Dixie Farm Road near Blackhawk Road as it was not considered to be in the flood plain under the city’s 1999 maps. The city’s development policy requires each site plan to be vetted by a licensed engineer to ensure there is not a negative impact on drainage.

However, the flood district, using updated maps, said the site should not have been considered in the first place.

Friendswood residents raised alarm about the dirt on Dixie Farm Road after workers spilled some onto the road, prompting questions about the project’s effect on flooding.

Another concern: The dirt was coming from a lot that happened to be adjacent to the Brio Superfund site, an Environmental Protection Agency-managed cleanup of what once was one of the worst toxic waste dumps in the U.S. It was taken off the agency’s priority list in 2006, according to the EPA.

It was the potential impact on flooding that prompted Shawn Johnson, an attorney who lives in Friendswood, to send a letter to city and flood district officials demanding that the project be suspended and the dirt removed.



“My biggest concern—I knew the next time it floods, with this big pile of dirt, it was going to make it worse for Friendswood,” Johnson said. “It was only when we realized where the dirt was coming from that it set off even bigger alarm bells.”

An environmental consultant cleared the project site in 2010, based on standards set by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, said Karen Hastings, a project communications manager for the flood district.

In those tests, groundwater samples were taken from depths of 27-58 feet, and soil samples were taken from depths up to 55 feet, she said.

As work goes into a site, contractors are required to stop if they come across environmental issues, such as odors and oily sheens, and seek clearance from the district, Hastings said.

Even so, some residents are asking for more evidence the dirt itself does not pose an environmental risk. Johnson is not convinced that officials are checking for all of the chemicals, such as benzene, that can be toxic.

“One of the things I’ve demanded was an environmental study that shows that this dirt is clean,” he said. “That would give me some comfort.”

According to the EPA, the Brio site is monitored daily, with sampling of groundwater, surface water and air. The EPA also checked the site after Hurricane Harvey and found it was unaffected.

The EPA conducts quarterly reviews as well as an in-depth evaluation every five years. The next five-year report is due to come out in September.

Despite this snag, the project overall is ahead of schedule and is continuing to excavate dirt from the project site. As of Feb. 27, more than 1.5 million cubic yards of soil had been excavated, the district said.