CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – An attorney in Corpus Christi has gotten a temporary restraining order against Valero, Ergon Asphalt and Emulsions, Inc. and any of their subsidiaries that might be responsible for the current water crisis in the city.
Tuesday night, just before midnight, officials declared the water unsafe to drink for the city’s more than 300,000 people. The city said a backflow incident from a chemical tank is to blame for the contamination.
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“Our small businesses and community have suffered through numerous water boil orders and now are facing a menacing chemical-exposure risk,” said Craig Sico, the attorney who filed to get the restraining order. “The community has a right to know who is responsible for this crisis, the amount and type of chemical agents that are involved and information about how long we have been exposed to this threat.”
The restraining order prohibits the companies from destroying or altering any evidence that might pertain to the case.
Valero issued the following statement:
While we have been named in lawsuits, we are not the source of the contamination in question. We continue to believe this is a localized backflow issue from Ergon in the area of Valero’s asphalt terminal. This issue is not related to Valero’s Corpus Christi refineries. Valero is cooperating with the City, TCEQ, and EPA. Valero is offering its resources to assist in isolating the issue and helping to confirm the City’s water supply is safe. In the interim, Valero is joining other companies to provide truckloads of bottled water to Corpus Christi.
City spokeswoman Kim Womack said the city is waiting on tests conducted by the city and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to find out the quality of the water.
The warning prompted schools to close and a rush on water at grocery stores, where long lines formed with people pushing carts filled with packages of bottled water. A decision about Friday classes had not been made as of 4 p.m.
Multiple companies have increased the number of water shipments to the bayside city.
corpus christi water crisis lawsuit.pdf by David Ibanez on Scribd