{"id":34113,"date":"2014-01-29T06:29:49","date_gmt":"2014-01-29T12:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=34113"},"modified":"2014-02-03T16:48:11","modified_gmt":"2014-02-03T22:48:11","slug":"texas-debates-how-to-spend-bp-spill-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2014\/01\/29\/texas-debates-how-to-spend-bp-spill-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Restrooms or Wetlands: How Should Texas Spend BP Spill Money?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Workers<\/a>

Photo by Mario Tama\/Getty Images<\/p>

Workers clean tarballs from the BP oil spill on Waveland beach December 6, 2010 in Waveland, Mississippi.<\/p><\/div>\n

Bad as the BP Deepwater Horizon spill<\/a>\u00a0was with its oil tainting miles of Texas beaches (36 miles to be exact, according to the state), there is now restoration money floating into Texas.<\/p>\n

As part of an agreement reached in 2011 for “early oil spill restoration<\/a>,” BP is paying Texas and four other Gulf Coast states a total of $1 billion. Texas’s portion is $100 million.<\/p>\n

But in Texas, there is disagreement over what deserves the most immediate attention, a debate that goes something like this: Restrooms v. Wetlands.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Texas Wants to Upgrade Parks<\/h4>\n
\"Roy<\/a>

Dave Fehling \/ StateImpact<\/p>

Roy Edwards of Brazoria addresses Texas and federal officials at meeting in Galveston<\/p><\/div>\n

On one side is the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife<\/a>. The money is sorely needed<\/a> by the department. During the state budget crisis in 2011, it had to beg the public for donations<\/a> to keep parks open. The BP spill the year before had already damaged the department’s revenues because the threat of oily beaches kept visitors — and their entrance fees — away.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

“People actually changed their patterns of recreation as a result of the spill. The effects of that went much, much broader than the footprint of the spill,” said Don Pitts, the department’s director for managing the BP spill money.<\/p>\n

Parks and Wildlife has come up with five initial projects, costing about $18.4 million. All are considered “recreational:” building new restrooms, showers and other facilities at storm-battered beach parks on Galveston Island and near Port Arthur. The three other projects involve building artificial reefs<\/a> miles offshore for fishing and diving.<\/p>\n

Less Restrooms, More Restoration<\/h4>\n

But at public meetings held in Texas coastal communities last week, the Parks and Wildlife proposals drew criticism from environmentalists, who said the recreational projects were shortsighted.<\/p>\n

“We would love to see a bigger focus on sustainable ecosystem restoration projects. We think those can provide some long-term payoff to the state of Texas,” said Scott Jones, Director of Advocacy at the Galveston Bay Foundation<\/a>. He was among a dozen people who each got three minutes to address state and federal officials at a meeting in Galveston.<\/p>\n

\"Environmentalist

Dave Fehling \/ StateImpact<\/p>

Environmentalist want BP money to go to restore shoreline and wetlands in coastal areas including Galveston Bay<\/p><\/div>\n

Brandt Mannchen, a long-time environmental activist in the Houston area, told the officials that spending millions on park improvements like showers and restrooms might be a waste of precious funding.<\/p>\n

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