What's that smell?

TEXAS CITY, Texas — A smell similar to rotten eggs enveloped Texas City about 5 p.m. Monday afternoon after a leak from a subunit at BP’s Texas City refinery.

Workers were doing maintenance work on a sour water compressor on the refinery’s Power 2 unit when workers noticed a smell after a piece of equipment failed, company spokesman Michael Marr said. The odor, which forced some businesses on Palmer Highway about 13 blocks from the refinery to shutter their doors and close windows, lasted more than an hour.

The smell is believed to come from liquid in the subunit that contained hydrogen sulfide, which is a hazardous chemical that has a strong smell of rotten eggs, Texas City Homeland Security Director Bruce Clawson said. The Texas City Fire Department and BP industrial hygienists conducted ground-level air monitoring and did not find any readings of hazardous chemicals in the air, Clawson said.

Between one and two barrels of sour water — which is waste water that contains hydrocarbons and is pumped to an enclosed sewer system for disposal — spilled, causing the offensive odor, officials said.

There was not a shelter in place order for the city, but Clawson issued a phone and e-mail alert to residents notifying them of the situation.

There was a brief shelter in place order within the refinery for areas downwind of the leak, Marr said. BP set up an incident command center and the leak was contained at about 9 p.m.

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Empty Stocking Toy Drive kicks off

Trilla Cook

– Bring toys by Dec. 11 to make this a “toy story” to remember –

The community-wide “Empty Stocking” toy drive benefiting Humble Area Assistance Ministries’ clients is off to a great start.

Once again, area businesses and residents are demonstrating their generosity through a willingness to volunteer and contribute, when it comes to making sure every child in the area has a toy this Christmas.

For the third year, Dr. Guy Sconzo of Humble ISD and Cynthia Calvert, owner of The Tribune Newspapers, are spearheading the effort to rally the community and local businesses to play a major role in making the program a success. “The Empty Stocking Toy Drive is a great way for the community to come together to help our local kids. HAAM’s clients are ‘our’ folks – more than 80 percent of HAAM clients have children in Humble ISD,” said Calvert.

“There are many fine organizations that help the needy at Christmas but HAAM takes the lion’s share of local need. They gather school supplies in the summer; they distribute food at Thanksgiving and Christmas; and every year they worry if there will be enough to go around. Every year, they are looking into the eyes of those who just want their kids to have a toy on Christmas morning. I hope everyone in the community sends even a bit of money to the Empty Stocking Toy Drive. On Christmas morning, you will enjoy your own family so much more, when you know that somewhere out there, a young child has joy that day,” she said.

Since most of the families in need are already in the social services network at HAAM, this is a most focused, effective and efficient way to get toys to kids.

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Houston murders may be work of a serial killer

by Michelle Homer / khou.com
khou.com
Posted on November 1, 2010 at 1:38 PM
Updated today at 1:42 PM


HOUSTON – Police are looking into a possible link between the strangulation murders of at least three women since June.
The most recent cases involved homeless women. The body of Carol Flood, 62, was found on Oct. 10 in a stairwell behind the old YMCA building. She was partially nude. On Sept. 30, Retia LaFaye Long, 52, was found dead behind the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart at 1700 San Jacinto.

Now police believe the same killer may have strangled Raquel Mundy last June 17, then dumped her body in a field in the 300 block of St. Charles.
Mundy, 24, was murdered after accepting a ride from a stranger when she was stranded downtown.

She had dropped her mom and two kids off at the Greyhound bus station downtown around 1:30 a.m. Thursday. She then discovered her car had been towed from a McDonald’s parking lot across the street.
Mundy tried to call friends and relatives, but couldn’t find anyone to give her a ride to the tow lot. Witnesses saw her get into a grey car with an unknown man, according to police.

Mundy later sent a text message to her mother saying she thought she was in danger and feared the man was going to hurt her.
Angela Collins was still on the bus to California with her two grandchildren when she got the disturbing message.

She tried frantically to reach Mundy. Collins then called several relatives and asked them to try to find Mundy.
By the time the bus arrived in California, there was still no sign of her daughter.
"Next call we got, they had found the body. It was my baby, Collins said as she choked back tears. "This man took away my baby."
An autopsy revealed Mundy had been strangled.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE AT KHOU