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Beeville, and Robstown. With exception of the vicinity of Corpus Christi, the area is sparsely populated, with farming and cattle ranching the chief activities. Sulfur and rock asphalt are produced and processed, and oil production is increasing. A large corn products refinery and a synthetic fabrics plant are located in the Corpus Christi area. Fresh water resources are used extensively for municipal and industrial water supplies, stock-watering, and irrigation. Oyster reefs are located in Nueces, Copano, Aransas, and Mesquite Bays. The area is popular for sport fishing, waterfowl hunting, and boating. Aransas Pass and Rockport are important shrimp landing ports.

There are 12 sewered municipalities with a total sewered population of 137,500 of which 100,000 are in metropolitan Corpus Christi. Although all sewered municipalities provide sewage treatment, the facilities at the following three are inadequate:

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Nueces Bay was closed to commercial oystering about 20 years ago because of raw sewage discharges at Corpus Christi. Improved facilities for sewage treatment now in operation and elimination of waterfront privies have permitted resumption of oyster marketing. There are now no areas closed to commercial fishing.

Large quantities of oil-field brines are evaporated in ponds or injected underground. Some not so treated have caused pollution of Mission Creek and Copano Bay. Wastes from a synthetic fabrics plant at Kingsville were suspected of causing a fish kill. Caustic soda from a chemical plant has, on occasion, affected waters in a turning basin near Corpus Christi. This problem is receiving attention by the industry. The extent of damage from these conditions is not known.

LOWER RIO GRANDE AREA (23)

The Lower Rio Grande Area is the coastal zone from Corpus Christi Pass to the International Boundary. It includes drainage of a number of creeks, Arroyo Colorado, and the Rio Grande River. The northern portion is dry, sparsely populated, and utilized for cattle ranching; the southern part is in the "Magic Valley" with its

widespread irrigation, semitropical climate, and tremendous agricultural development. Processing of citrus fruits and vegetables is a major industry along with fish and shellfish processing. Brownsville, Harlingen, Alice, and McAllen are principal cities. Tourist trade is a major factor in the area's economy during the winter months. Fresh water resources are used extensively for irrigation. The Arroyo Colorado serves as a wasteway for surplus Rio Grande water, an irrigation drain, and as a waste disposal canal to Laguna Madre. About 200 fishing boats operate from the mouth of the river. There are oyster reefs in South Bay. Coastal waters are also used for sport fishing and recreation.

The 27 sewered municipalities have a total connected population of 146,300, and all have treatment facilities. The facilities of 9 municipalities serving 15,300 persons are inadequate:

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Only two municipalities discharge treatment plant effluents to the Rio Grande, most others to Arroyo Colorado. Industrial wastes come from numerous fruit, vegetable, and sea food canneries and quick-freeze plants, oil refineries, a chemical plant, a large candy and gum factory, and castor and cottonseed processing plants.

The Arroyo Colorado, at times, is heavily overloaded with sewage and industrial wastes. Effects upon resources of Laguna Madre or the Gulf are not known. The oyster beds in South Bay are 50 miles distant from the mouth of Arroyo Colorado and well protected by distance from the discharged wastes.

THE GULF COAST OF THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO

In general, the area draining to the Gulf is sparsely populated. Land is used largely for grazing, lumbering, and agriculture. The oil industry is the only one of significance with respect to water pollution. Fishing for fin fish, shrimp, and oysters are important local industries along the coast. The oyster producing capacity of

Mexican waters has not been developed thoroughly because of lack of markets. Local beaches are used extensively for bathing and, even near the cities, the Gulf waters are clear and inviting.

Except for Tampico, Veracruz, Villa Hermosa, and Coatzacoalcos, domestic sewage is disposed of on an individual basis. The effects of such disposal upon the Gulf and its estuaries is negligible. At Tampico untreated municipal sewage is discharged to the Panuco River which provides adequate dilution to prevent nuisances. Because of a peculiar combination of tides and currents this sewage has contaminated parts of Laguna Vieja beyond acceptable limits for oyster harvesting. At Veracruz a primary sewage treatment plant was constructed and placed in operation in 1950. A few sewer outlets are not as yet connected to the treatment plant.

Loading of crude oil into ships at Tampico, Tuxpan, and Coatzacoalcos, on occasion, has resulted in accidental spills that have fouled beaches near these points. The offending parties have been cooperative in preventing recurrences. This is the only known industrial waste problem on the Gulf, and there are no records of injury to fish or other aquatic life.

Silt deposition is the greatest pollution problem on the Mexican Gulf Coast. Silt and sand carried by the Panuco and Grijalva Rivers clog the harbors at Tampico and Alvaro Obregon, respectively, and necessitate dredging to permit navigation. From north to south the silt carrying rivers of Mexico discharging along the Gulf coast are: Soto la Marina, Barbarena, Panuco, Tuxpan, Cazones, Nautla, Tecolatia, Actopan, Misantla, Boca del Rio, Papaloapan, Coatzacoalcos, Tonala, Nuevo San Filipe, Santana, Cuxcucha, Grijalva, and San Pedro. Many of these streams discharge to brackish estuaries which contain oyster reefs. Undoubtedly the deposition of silt will destroy the oyster reefs which are a valuable natural resource.

Because of the near nonexistence of sewage and industrial waste pollution in the Gulf coast area there is no antipollution campaign in Mexico. Federal law regarding pollution is very brief and consists of a paragraph or two in the Sanitary Code which forbids the discharge into waters of materials harmful to health and navigation. Under the Sanitary Code detailed regulations could be drawn up for controlling pollution, but

this has not been necessary as yet. The Federal Health Department (Salubridad) and Federal Harbor Police (Marina) are the agencies charged with pollution control; their activities along this line are largely concerned with handling complaints. Principal complaints concern the oil pollution previously mentioned. There is no routine determination of water quality or the amounts of pollution except in the Tampico area where the health department has an interest in the bacterial quality of oyster-producing waters. The several Mexican States could, if so inclined, promulgate and enforce water pollution control laws.

For the past several years Mexico has discussed soil conservation, and some beginnings of a working program have developed which in time will reduce the amount of silt carried to the Gulf.

From the standpoint of organic pollution of Gulf waters the program carried out in Mexico is adequate to handle present conditions, although from a conservation and public health view some soil conservation and general sanitation practices could be improved. It can be safely said that when Mexico has a real need for an antipollution campaign it will be forthcoming.

ANONYMOUS.

LITERATURE CITED

1946. Manual of recommended practice for sanitary control of the shellfish industry. Federal Security Agency, U. S. Public Health Service, Public Health Bull. 295: 1–44.

1949. Studies of pollution in streams of Alabama. State of Alabama Water Improvement Advisory Commission, pp. 1–298.

1950. Joint sanitary survey of the waters of the state of Florida receiving wastes from pulp and paper mills for the Florida pulp and paper industry. April 1, 1949-May 1, 1950. Prepared by Bureau of Sanitary Engineering, Florida State Board of Health, and the National Council for Stream Improvement of the Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Industries, Inc. 1951a. Water pollution in the United States. Federal Security Agency, U. S. Public Health Service, pp. 1-44.

1951b. Esso spends two million in pollution fight. Louisiana Conservationist 4: 12-13.

1952. Annotated bibliography of pollution surveys of the coastal waters of the United States with special reference to sanitary quality of shellfish growing Public Federal Security Agency, U. S. Health Service, pp. 1–79. GALTSOFF, PAUL S.

areas.

1936. Oil pollution in coastal waters. Proc. North American Wildlife Conference, Feb. 3-7, 5 pp.

GALTSOFF, PAUL S., H. F. PRYTHERCH, R. O. SMITH, and VERA KOEHRING.

1935. Effects of crude oil pollution on oysters in Louisiana waters. Department of Commerce, Bur. Fish. Bull. 18: 144-210.

GUNTER, G.

1942. Offatts Bayou, a locality with recurrent summer mortality of marine organisms. Am. Mid. Nat. 28 (3): 631-633.

LUMSDEN, L. L., H. E. Hasseltine, J. P. Leake, and M. V. Veldee.

1925. A typhoid fever epidemic caused by oysterborne infection (1924-25). Public Health Rept., Supp. No. 50: 1-102.

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PHELPS, E. B., and D. E. BARRY.

1950. Stream sanitation in Florida. Bull. Florida Engr. and Industrial Exper. Sta. 4, No. 5, pp. 1–55. SPECHT, R. C.

1950. Phosphate waste studies. Bull. Florida Engr. and Industrial Exper. Sta. 4, No. 2, pp. 1-27. WAKEFIELD, J. W.

1948. Pollution survey, Apalachicola River and Apalachicola Bay, November 1947-August 1948. Bur. Sanitary Engr., Florida State Bd. of Health, pp. 1-56.

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