CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Citizens continue to fight over the few water bottles left in this city as a lawsuit now alleges that a local energy refinery is to blame for the contamination alert issued Wednesday.
As Breitbart Texas reported, on Wednesday, the City of Corpus Christi issued a late night warning asking residents to not drink, use or bathe in the waters from the municipal system. The alert was prompted by the City.
Rudy Garza, a Corpus Christi Councilman spoke with Breitbart Texas about the water crisis. He claimed that the contamination came from a third party and not from the city’s supply. When asked about the Valero company, he stated that it was in their property where the problem began and that a contractor is likely to blame.
Less than 24 hours after the city had issued out the alert, local attorney Bob Hilliard had filed a lawsuit at the Nueces County Courthouse on behalf of various clients, the Houston Chronicle reported.
According to a statement about Hilliard’s lawsuit, he is suing Valero Marketing and Supply Company, Valero South Texas Marketing Company, Valero Bill Greenhey Plant, and Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions, Inc. in connection with the case. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants acted negligently and grossly negligent by failing to ensure that contaminants do not enter the water supply. He also accuses the companies of causing many area businesses to close or to otherwise limit operations, resulting in substantial lost earnings and other damages.
Valero issued a prepared statement to Breitbart Texas in response to the claims on Hilliard’s lawsuit.
“While we have been named in lawsuits, we are not the source of the contamination in question. We continue to believe this is a localized backflow issue from Ergon in the area of Valero’s asphalt terminal. This issue is not related to Valero’s Corpus Christi refineries. Valero is cooperating with the city, TCEQ and EPA.”
A company spokesman stated that Valero and other companies were moving truckloads of bottled water to Corpus Christi to help alleviate the need.
Local resident Lionel Perez claimed that city officials and Valero personnel must provide clear answers to the community as to what happened and fix the problem.
“The city has been so slow in telling us what happened,” Perez said. “They have been slow in providing real information and deploying help to low income families.”
Tony Aranda is a contributor for Breitbart Texas.
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