Official: 3 reports of dirty water before ban in Corpus Christi

CORPUS CHRISTI -- A top Corpus Christi official says there were three reports of dirty water before the public was told this week of a chemical leak into the water system.

Assistant City Manager Mark Van Vleck said Saturday that the city first received a "dirty water report" Dec. 1 from the Valero-owned administration building at the asphalt plant leased to Ergon Asphalt and Emulsions. City workers flushed the pipe.

A second report came from the same building Dec. 7, and the main was flushed again.

Van Vleck said Valero workers told the public works department Monday that a "white, sudsy liquid" was in the administration building. Van Vleck didn't specify where the liquid was coming from.

He said city officials determined there was a leak in the chemical tank that day, and the next day determined there was a backflow problem.

The city told the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality about it Wednesday, and hours later, the state notified the public.

Van Vleck said an investigation is ongoing and that the city has found no water contamination.