Texas environmental report detail Trinidad water issues

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality found multiple violations with the water in Trinidad and Henderson County. Over the past few months, residents took their concerns over the water to social media. In the fallout, two people were arrested and two city employees fired. The Texas Rangers investigate those incidents, and the state also began looking at the water issues that sparked all the complaints. Fox four's David Centenary live with more on the findings so far and how locals are fighting back. David. Hey, Steve. Yeah, we first reported on these issues in Trinidad after a woman was arrested for a Facebook post talking about the safety of the water. Now we're finding out the state is finding some real issues. Total cost for this was a little bit over $10,000. A $10,000 water filtration system. Not exactly what restaurant owners want to spend money on. Having to put in the filtration systems for us was a must. But Stephen Haynes and Jonathan Bowman own the Whistle Stop in Trinidad, a city in the midst of a water controversy. There's a tipping point for everything, and we have hit the tipping point for months. Residents have sent Fox four images of discolored water in Trinidad. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality began investigating. Now it's revealing what it found among the T. C. E. Q. S. Findings discolored water that exceeded the standard. It says the age and condition of distribution mains may be a factor in contributing to tinted or discolored water. It also notes failures within the design of Trinidad's water distribution system, specifically too many dead end lines preventing water from properly circulating. This problem didn't happen overnight. This is from 2030 years of people kicking the can down the road and choosing deliberately not to reinvest in overall infrastructure. T. C. E. Q. Reports also note a failure to conduct chloramine effectiveness sampling and distribution. Haynes and Bowman recently tested raw, unfiltered water at several of their businesses in Trinidad. They say lab testing discovered byproducts from disinfectants exceeding federal maximum contaminant levels by more than 300%. The developers previously held a citizen meeting to discuss the possibility of privatizing Trinidad's water system. Trinidad needs to make a decision whether or not they need to be in the water business. It's unclear how the city will move forward. For now, the T. C. E. Q. Is giving the city of Trinidad until August 3rd to submit a compliance plan. But it's gonna be painful for the next couple years to get from where we are today to where we need to be. But part of that is people need to recognize that this is a true crisis. Haynes and Bowman say they've been using traditional water filters at their business for several years. Typical filter may last 30 days in a basic filtration, and sometimes we're burning through them in a matter of days. But after their own recent testing, they're taking a $10,000 measure to make sure their water is safe. People should recognize that other businesses moving to Trinidad are gonna have to do something to this effect to be able to provide clean water. We're still awaiting a response from Trinidad City officials regarding the T. C. E. Q. Findings. It's safe to point out that they have not gotten back to us regarding really any of our stories from the beginning of our reporting. Also, we reached out to Aqua Services, the company that's hired to treat the water in Trinidad, but they have also not gotten back to us. Steve. All right, Davidson. Thank you very much.