Now the private equity backed company claims some 26,000 acres on the Vest Ranch about 10 miles outside of Kermit. There, off of State Highway 302, Black Mountain expects to open two frac sand mines a few miles apart with a total capacity of 8 million tons per year. It’s the biggest sand mining project in the Permian Basin announced by any one company so far, even exceeding those of public frac sand companies.
Meanwhile, the state rarely punishes such unauthorized releases of pollutants like sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and volatile organic compounds, the report from the Environmental Integrity Project and Environment Texas found. The report, “Breakdowns in Enforcement,” examined records of air emissions beyond permitted limits that were reported by companies in Texas to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality from 2011 to 2016.
“I don’t do things personal,” Graff told CBS-7’s Tatum Hubbard. “I represent the people in District 3, and actually I feel like I represent everyone in Odessa.”. And how many Odessans elected Graff to represent them? 239 people. Back in 2010. Such low participation in city elections highlights the challenge involved in any effort to recall council members, which some Odessans began calling for in the furor surrounding Morton’s ouster.
Chris Wray, right, helps organize volunteers to get petitions signed to have certain city council members recalled. The group gathered Saturday morning at Sherwood Park before dispersing into the various precincts to collect signatures. In the end, canvassers collected about 800 signatures of registered voters in Graff’s central Odessa district, said Chris Wray, the local insurance agent who organized the recall effort.
Tuesday was the third time this year that the City Council discussed Morton’s removal. But this time, Morton asserted his right under state public meetings law to force a discussion in the open. The swing vote was District 5 Councilman Filiberto Gonzales, who accused Morton of failing to support a long-troubled effort aimed at building business ties with Mexico that Gonzales champions.
The appointee removed from his post, Jimmy Breaux of the Odessa Development Corporation, said after the meeting “I don’t know why I have been removed.”. Moreover, the vote to remove Breaux represented a majority of City Council members overriding a fellow councilman’s discretion over a seat on the five member ODC board.
Texas open government advocates call such situations of elected officials failing to turn over public records the “custodian loophole,” said Bill Aleshire, an Austin attorney who specializes in open government litigation. Elected officials are on their honor to turn over records by the public concerning public business.
Hamilton asked to see the major to talk about a complaint he received of a broken washer in the emergency shelter that serves needy Odessans. Instead of waiting, Hamilton left a business card and told a receptionist to have Major Guy Watts call him. When the major called Hamilton, Leoffler says she was one of two others in the room.
He’s a product of the community. He sees even slum and blight through a different perspective with more passion because those are his folks ... Being a sports hero coming back to your home town, you have a sense of obligation.”. “I’m used to dealing with pressure,” Hamilton said in an October interview.
Hamilton’s lack of transparency makes it difficult for anyone to independently assess potential conflicts of interest or basic matters like who their councilman is and whether he’s still eligible for the office that voters elected him into last year. It’s a break with the practices of current and former council members that requires Odessans to take Hamilton at his word.
Now, a frac sand mining boom has become a critical issue for the Permian Basin oil industry. The local sand’s transformative potential in reducing the costs of oil wells and also the concentrated impacts of the mining were key topics during the Permian Basin Petroleum Association’s annual meeting on Thursday.
Just over a month later, Hamilton — who has refused to disclose his employer — voted against public incentives for Weir Oil and Gas. That company is a direct competitor of Sentry, which presented a conflict of interest that current and former council members say Hamilton should have avoided by abstaining from the Weir vote.
A receipt shows Hamilton paid the reimbursement in cash at 3:14 p.m. Thursday, as the Houston Chronicle was preparing a story following up on the Odessa American’s reporting. A report in the Houston Chronicle appeared that evening. Hamilton’s trip to Minneapolis spanned from Jan. 20 to Jan. 31 and cost taxpayers $2,102.03 before the reimbursement.
A perigee full moon, also called a super moon, rises behind a drilling rig Monday evening between Odessa and Midland. The moon appears slightly larger than normal as its orbit brings it closer to earth, which won't happen to this extent again until Nov. 25, 2034. “I had no idea how long it would take for me to find a job — that’s why I stayed here,” Thompson said in an interview, explaining why he didn’t rent a hotel room, find an apartment or return back to his home in Abilene, where he moved from in September.
Point is that we can proceed with a plan. They want officials to come to Odessa and sign this agreement.”. Those words, in fact, appear almost verbatim in a July 12 email from Chavez to Hispanic Chamber and city economic development appointees. She also passed out a paper on “Accomplishments.”. Chavez wrote that, too.
Odessa American
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Corey Paul
City government and business reporter at the Odessa American newspaper.