Abstract
Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast in August 2017 causing catastrophic flooding. Harris County is highly vulnerable to flooding, which is controlled in part by a system of bayous that include parks and trails. The petrochemical industry, as well as thousands of documented sources of environmental pollution make recreational areas susceptible to environmental contamination during flood events. Recreational areas and toxic exposure sources were geocoded by subwatershed boundaries and overlaid with the area of Hurricane Harvey inundation. A total of 121 of 349 (36.78%) parks were flooded; 102 of 121 (84.30%) were located in subwatersheds with at least one exposure source. A total of 337 exposure sources (6 Superfund, 32 municipal solid waste, and 299 petroleum storage tanks) in 30 subwatersheds were flooded. Though parks provide flood mitigation and other postdisaster benefits, their susceptibility to environmental contamination should be considered, especially in areas with a large number of toxic exposure sources.
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Author Contributions
IK designed the project; IK, GAC & KWS conducted the data analysis; JAH and GN obtained funding; JAH and KWS drafted the paper manuscript; all edited the paper manuscript.
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Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P42ES027704 and Award Number T32ES026568.
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Appendix 1. Inundation of Recreational Parks and Potential Exposure Sites by Subwatershed and Type, Harris County, TX
Appendix 1. Inundation of Recreational Parks and Potential Exposure Sites by Subwatershed and Type, Harris County, TX
Subwatershed (N = 41) | Total parks | Flooded parks | Total contamination sites | Parks exposed (%) | Superfund sites N (%) | Municipal waste sites N (%) | Petroleum storage tanks N (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 349 | 121 | 337 | – | 6 (1.78) | 32 (9.50) | 299 (88.72) |
Barker Reservoir-Buffalo Bayou | 3 | 2 | 1 | 66.67 | 0 (0.00) | 1 (100.00) | 0 (0.00) |
Bens Branch-Frontal Lake Houston | 3 | 2 | 7 | 66.67 | 0 (0.00) | 1 (14.29) | 6 (85.71) |
Carpenters Bayou | 4 | 2 | 4 | 50.00 | 0 (0.00) | 0 (0.00) | 4 (100.00) |
Cedar Point Lateral-Cedar Bayou | 8 | 1 | 3 | 12.50 | 0 (0.00) | 1 (33.33) | 2 (66.67) |
City of Houston-Buffalo Bayou | 14 | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
Clear Creek-Frontal Galveston Bay a. | 22 | 5 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
Clear Creek-Frontal Galveston Bay b. | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0.00 | 1 (100.00) | 0 (0.00) | 0 (0.00) |
Clear Creek-Frontal Galveston Bay c. | 4 | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
Clear Creek-Frontal Galveston Bay d. | 11 | 4 | 1 | 36.36 | 0 (0.00) | 0 (0.00) | 1 (100.00) |
Cole Creek-Whiteoak Bayou | 11 | 2 | 29 | 18.18 | 0 (0.00) | 0 (0.00) | 29 (100.00) |
Country Club Bayou-Brays Bayou | 26 | 5 | 22 | 19.23 | 0 (0.00) | 2 (9.09) | 20 (90.91) |
Dry Creek-Cypress Creek | 1 | 1 | 6 | 100.00 | 0 (0.00) | 0 (0.00) | 6 (100.00) |
Dry Creek-Spring Creek | 5 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
Ellis Branch-Cedar Bayou | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100.00 | 0 (0.00) | 0 (0.00) | 1 (100.00) |
Garners Bayou | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0.00 | 0 (0.00) | 1 (12.50) | 7 (87.50) |
Goose Creek-Frontal Galveston Bay | 18 | 2 | 4 | 11.11 | 0 (0.00) | 1 (25.00) | 3 (75.00) |
Halls Bayou | 18 | 8 | 44 | 44.44 | 0 (0.00) | 2 (4.55) | 42 (95.45) |
Highlands Reservoir-San Jacinto River | 5 | 1 | 7 | 20.00 | 2 (28.57) | 0 (0.00) | 5 (71.43) |
Hunting Bayou | 23 | 8 | 53 | 34.78 | 0 (0.00) | 2 (3.77) | 51 (96.23) |
Jackson Bayou-San Jacinto River | 6 | 4 | 3 | 66.67 | 2 (66.67) | 0 (0.00) | 1 (33.33) |
Jersey Lake-Whiteoak Bayou | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
Keegans Bayou-Brays Bayou | 19 | 13 | 27 | 68.42 | 0 (0.00) | 1 (3.70) | 26 (96.30) |
Little Cypress Creek | 1 | 1 | 2 | 100.00 | 0 (0.00) | 0 (0.00) | 2 (100.00) |
Little Whiteoak Bayou-Whiteoak Bayou | 26 | 11 | 23 | 42.31 | 0 (0.00) | 1 (4.35) | 22 (95.65) |
Lower Greens Bayou | 3 | 2 | 21 | 66.67 | 0 (0.00) | 10 (47.62) | 11 (52.38) |
Lower Sims Bayou | 26 | 5 | 0 | – | 0 (0.00) | – | – |
Mallard Lake-Cypress Creek | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 (0.00) | 1 (100.00) | 0 (0.00) |
Marshall Lake-Cypress Creek | 5 | 5 | 8 | 100.00 | 0 (0.00) | 0 | 8 (100.00) |
Middle Greens Bayou | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0.00 | 0 (0.00) | 3 (37.50) | 5 (62.50) |
Orange Branch-East Fork San Jacinto River | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
Panther Branch-Spring Creek | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
Seaberg Reservoir-Cedar Bayou | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100.00 | 0 (0.00) | 0 (0.00) | 1 (100.00) |
South Mayde Creek | 3 | 2 | 8 | 66.67 | 0 (0.00) | 1 (12.50) | 7 (87.50) |
Spring Branch-Buffalo Bayou | 12 | 1 | 6 | 8.33 | 0 (0.00) | 1 (16.67) | 5 (83.33) |
Spring Creek | 4 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
Sugar Creek-Spring Creek | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
Turkey Creek-Cypress Creek | 6 | 3 | 3 | 50.00 | 0 (0.00) | 1 (33.33) | 2 (66.67) |
Upper Greens Bayou | 3 | 2 | 25 | 66.67 | 0 (0.00) | 2 (8.00) | 23 (92.00) |
Upper Sims Bayou | 11 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
Vince Bayou-Buffalo Bayou | 28 | 8 | 8 | 28.57 | 1 (12.50) | 0 (0.00) | 7 (87.50) |
Willow Creek | 3 | 1 | 2 | 33.33 | 0 (0.00) | 0 (0.00) | 2 (100.00) |
Total | 349 | 121 | 337 | – | 6 (1.78) | 32 (9.50) | 299 (88.72) |
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Karaye, I., Stone, K.W., Casillas, G.A. et al. A Spatial Analysis of Possible Environmental Exposures in Recreational Areas Impacted by Hurricane Harvey Flooding, Harris County, Texas. Environmental Management 64, 381–390 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-019-01204-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-019-01204-4