Texas Names 2008 Environmental Award Winners
AUSTIN, Texas, April 23, 2008 (ENS) – A small North Texas woman whose volunteer efforts have made a big impact on the environment and a $14 million restoration project that has brought a desolate South Texas wetlands back to life are among 11 innovative projects and people across the state to be recognized with the 2008 Texas Environmental Excellence Awards.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, TCEQ, Tuesday announced the 2008 winners of the 16th annual awards, given to honor actions to conserve air, water, and land resources.
Among this year’s award recipients are a city that is collecting recyclable waste, composting it, and then selling it back to area farmers; a cabinet maker that invested $6 million to be able to use environmentally friendly wood finishes; and an Austin company that buys and sells high-quality, used cardboard moving boxes, keeping them out of landfills.
“We are proud to recognize these individuals and organizations,” said TCEQ Chairman Buddy Garcia. “Their efforts will lead to a cleaner, more environmentally friendly Texas.”
This year marks the second presentation of the Gregg A. Cooke Memorial Award for Exceptional Environmental Excellence, created to honor individuals who display passion, innovation, and persistence for protecting the environment.
Gregg Cooke, a former regional administrator for the federal Environmental Protection Agency in Dallas, was known for his tireless and innovative efforts to make Texas a healthier place to live. Cooke passed away in September 2006 at the age of 51.
Recommended by a Blue Ribbon Committee of environmental experts from public and private industry, the Texas Environmental Excellence Awards awards honor individuals, businesses, and organizations that have created successful programs that conserve natural resources, reduce waste, and prevent pollution.
Between the 1930s and 1950s, construction of the Brownsville Ship Channel and State Highway 48 gradually cut off the Bahia Grande basin’s 6,800 acres from the marine waters it needed to flourish.
In 2000, the Conservation Fund, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service banded together to buy the property. Scientists intentionally flooded 10,000 acres. They built greenhouses to propagate native plants, and once the plants grew, workers re-established a coastal estuary lined with 3,000 black mangrove seedlings, valued for its protection and stabilization of low-lying coastal lands and other native wetland species.
In 2005, community efforts resulted in the first pilot channel being dug linking the ship channel to the dry basin. Within the first few months of flooding Bahia Grande, marine organisms resumed their historic migration patterns.
“These award winners have gone above and beyond the call,” said TCEQ Commissioner Larry Soward. “They have demonstrated a real commitment to the people of our great state and its resources.”
At 4’9″ Ruby Dillon may be small in stature, but this big-hearted Richland Hills resident has given more than 56,000 hours of volunteer service over 20 years.
In 2007, this 80 year-old encouraged more than 1,600 young people to participate in environmental camps, fairs, and cleanups that collected a ton of trash and more than three tons of paper. As the volunteer executive director of Keep Richland Hills Beautiful from 1990 to April 2007 she created projects ranging from a community butterfly garden to an educational environmental activity book and partnered with 21 different boards and agencies.
“Texas is fortunate to have these world-class awardees,” said TCEQ Commissioner Bryan Shaw. “It is a pleasure to give them this recognition, but their real award will be in realizing that their efforts have made our state a better place to live.”
The commissioners of the TCEQ will present the awards at the annual awards banquet on April 30, 2008, at the Austin Convention Center as part of the TCEQ Environmental Trade Fair and Conference.
For the individual stories of all 11 winners, visit: www.tceq.state.tx.us
For more information on the TCEQ awards program and to submit an application for next year’s awards, visit: www.teea.org.
