FB Sun Covers Landfill & T.V. Station Problem (Near Missouri City)-

Television stations claim landfill will block Doppler
By: John Pape

The proposed expansion of the Blue Ridge Landfill in eastern Fort Bend County is facing a new obstacle after two Houston television stations claimed the increased height would interfere with their weather radar signals.

Both ABC station KTRK (Channel 13) and CBS affiliate KHOU (Channel 11) said that if the landfill was allowed to increase its height from 50-feet to 170-feet as proposed in Blue Ridge's pending expansion permit, the two stations' Doppler weather radar signal toward Galveston and the Gulf of Mexico could be compromised.

The landfill currently has a permit pending before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to increase the height of the landfill to add more capacity. That application has drawn vocal opposition from area residents and environmental activists.

Rick Lowerre, an Austin-based attorney representing the television stations, said that the reduced effectiveness of the weather radar could present a significant threat to the public during severe storms.

"The stations would no longer be able to give the same type of advanced warning of some hurricanes, tornadoes and other adverse weather conditions," Lowerre said.
Allied Waste, operator of the Blue Ridge facility, did not return calls for comment. . .


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