Meeting Wednesday, the three-member Texas Commission on Environmental Quality extended until July 16 an emergency order providing water to 51 persons in 17 homes in the Cain Addition in Riviera.

The water system in the addition was found abandoned by developer John Lamar Cain of McAllen by TCEQ inspector Hector Gonzales of Corpus Christi on May 29, 2009. “No electricity (was) being provided to the utility (the water system) and the utility was non-operational,” executive director Mark R. Vickery told the commissioners in material made available Wednesday.

“The TCEQ alleges that CAHA and Mr. Cain refuse to make necessary repairs to the utility to ensure continuous and adequate water service,” Vickery said. “A potential health hazard exists as a result.”

CAHA and Mr. Cain “(1) failed to provide appropriate water treatment, (2) failed to adequately maintain facilities, and (3) failed to secure alternative available water supply during an outage,” Vickery told the commission.

Vickery issued an emergency order on June 6 which included a TCEQ emergency response team which provided bottled water until a temporary manager could be appointed and in place to provide water to the households in the addition.

“Immediate repairs … are necessary to ensure the quality of the water … and to ensure the utility operates in a safe manner and meets requirements in the Texas Water Code,” Vickery told the commission.

The commission was unanimous Wednesday in extending the emergency order. “The commission finds that the executive director appropriately issued the emergency order and the the requirements for an emergency found in … the Texas Water Code have been satisfied,” according t Wednesday’s order modifying the original order.

Rio Bravo Resource Conservation & Development Corporation of Falfurrias continues to serve as temporary manager of the addition’s public water system. Rio Bravo is a federal agency designed to protect soil, water and other natural resources. It covers 12 counties in South Texas, including Kleberg. It was designated temporary manager in Vickery’s original emergency order. Rio Bravo is compensated by a $15 monthly fee paid by each household receiving water.

“No other source of water is available to the more than 51 people whose water is supplied by the Cain Addition Housing Authority and Mr. Cain,” Vickery told the commissioners.

Violations of the Water Code and other laws and rules were detected as early as November 28, 2007, when the TCEQ’s Corpus Christi Regional Office inspected the facility. It was found that CAHA did not have disinfection facilities and failed to provide plans, specifications or a business plan for the water system.

In March 2009, the TCEQ charged the utility with failing to collect routine samples for coloform analysis for nine months through January 2009.

No one representing the Riviera housing addition appeared before Wednesday’s meeting. Attorney Peipey Tang of the TCEQ’s Litigation Division appeared on behalf of the TCEQ staff.

According to material made available Wednesday, the TCEQ began investigating the Cain Addition water system after a complaint alleged electricity necessary to operate the system had been shut off “due to non- payment of the electricity bill.”

The complainant did not wish to speak at Wednesday’s meeting, the material said.

The TCEQ is chaired by Dr. Bryan W. Shaw of Bryan, an associate professor of biological and agricultural engineering at Texas A&M University.

Members include Buddy Garcia of Austin, one-time advisor to state Sen. Eddie Lucio of Brownsville, and Carlos Rubinstein, a onetime TCEQ deputy executive director.

In other action Wednesday, TCEQ approved penalties totaling $730,739 against 74 regulated entities for violations of state environmental regulations.

Agreed orders were issued for the following enforcement categories: 13 air quality, two Edwards Aquifer, one industrial or hazardous waste, one industrial waste discharge, one licensed irrigator, four multi-media, two municipal solid waste, nine municipal waste discharge, 11 petroleum storage tank, 13 public water system, one sludge, and four water quality.