I’m a little out of the loop on this one because I’m so far from being decided, either way. On the very eastern edge of Town Lake, backed up into a barrio, there’s the Holly Street Power Plant.
When I was reading yesterday’s Daily Texan, there was a front page story with excellent graphics. But like student journalism, and like student needs to protest something[/I>, the coverage was rather one-sided.
Big, splashy graphic of people with drums and native gear who were protesting the power plant. – that much was good. But the ensuing column inches, of which there was relative paucity, completely neglected a couple of points.
I won’t even claim to know the whole story, but I lived across the lake from that plant for a while, and I pass it frequently on the trail that winds behind it.
So how about the fuel oil spills? Been two that I know, or some other kind of spill. Not actually one that got the HAZMAT team out, but I’m certainly not fishing downriver from that place.
There’s the other side of that equation, too. How much energy (read: electrical power) does the Holly Street plant provide? That one, really hot summer? That plant kept a portion of Austin cool.
I’m actually rather fond of that barrio, but the onerous image of a derelict power plant hanging over its head has to detract from the value. In my mind, I could see taking that old plant and turning its existing structure into some pretty weird architectural fantasies, a cross between Mad Max and Blade Runner. It could happen.
Where do I fit in? I don’t. One of those summers when that plant was busy churning out juice, I was pretty sure that’s what kept my apartment cool – and kept my computer running. But then, I’ve also enjoyed talking to the guys who do fish in the little outlet, just downriver from that plant, literally, less than 50 meters from the eastern edge where the water comes roiling out. I watched as a grizzled fisherman pulled a 3-foot long drum out. I asked about his catch. “Basically, it’s carp.”