A press conference was held Tuesday morning in the Commissioners Courtroom concerning a problem that has been on going on the Neches River. Citizens have been seeking action from the Texas General Land Office to cause a company to cease using fleet barges in the Bessie Heights Marsh.
The Savage Inland Marine fleeting company held a public meeting last week to explain what they were doing. Tuesday’s press conference was in response to that one. The General Land Office held hearings in Jefferson County in June, but not in Orange County and did not even invite representatives from Orange County to comment on the permit restrictions for the fleeting operation.
Orange County Commissioner Jody Crump whose Precinct 4 is adjacent to the Bessie Heights Marsh reminds that Orange County has been against the barges in the marsh since it was first made aware of it. In June the Commissioners Court issued a letter of opposition to the barge operation in the marsh. State Representative Dade Phelan and State Senator Robert Nichols also issued letters of protest against the project. Crump indicates that between fifteen to twenty million dollars has been spent to restore the Bessie Heights Marsh in the last several decades. “With a twenty-million-dollar investment out there and to start doing unpermitted fleeting in that area it concerned us,” Crump stated.
Crump indicated the local concerned group is working to provide further evidence for the General Land Office of the unpermitted barges in the hope the state agency will force the company to stop operating in the protected marshes. The General Land Office could impose fines on Savage Inland Marine for unpermitted use of the marsh areas.
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