Located within the city limits of both Port Aransas and Aransas Pass, Harbor Island is zoned for industry. It has deep water, a highway, and channel frontage access.
The public has until Aug. 21 to submit comments on a proposed industrial project involving facilities and pipelines stretching from Taft to Harbor Island, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced this week. The original deadline was Sept. 9, 2019. Comments could determine if the Corps will hold a public hearing on proposed construction.
Axis Midstream Holdings is in charge of the project, which those opposing it say will negatively affect essential fish habitat and could harm threatened or endangered species.
Included in the project are the Midway Tank Farm, the Aransas Pass Staging Facility, a pipeline bundle connecting those two facilities, a loading terminal on Harbor Island, and a second pipeline bundle facilities in Harbor Island and Aransas Pass. The pipelines will be used to load two marine vessels at a maximum rate of 80,000 barrels per hour and move product from the remix tanks at Harbor Island back to the Aransas Pass staging facility.
About 20 acres on Harbor Island are designated for the infrastructure needed to allow two very large crude carriers (VLCCs) to dock and load. (Details here.)
“Any comments received will be considered by the Corps of Engineers to determine whether to issue, modify, condition or deny a permit for this proposal,” reads a public notice posted by the Corps. “To make this decision, comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above. Comments are used in the preparation of an Environmental Impact Assessment and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity.”
Comments and requests for additional information should reference the file number, SWG-2018-00789, and be submitted to:
Corpus Christi Field Office Regulatory Division
CESWG-RD-R U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
5151 Flynn Parkway, Suite 306
Corpus Christi, TX 78411-4318
You may also contact 361-814-5847 or SWG201800789@usace.army.mil.
