West became something of an information vacuum, collecting documents from state agencies, anecdotes from fishing organizations, tournament results, and whatever else he could find. Nothing he found dissuaded him from his feeling that Rayburn was in trouble, and he found sympathetic ears in Ed Parten and other influential bass fishermen. Parten pitched the case to environmental organizations, which were already looking skeptically at the state's standards revisions. "We got the attention of the enviros," says Parten, who owns a Houston construction company and hardly comes off as a prototypical tree hugger. "All of a sudden, we realized how many things we had in common."
Parten, Dave Stewart, and others put together a coalition of fishermen and environmental and health groups they call SMART (Sensible Management of Aquatic Resources Team). With a combined membership of more than 300,000, the organization has potential clout, the full weight of which Parten says will be brought to bear in the fight over Rayburn. "We're ready to play hardball," he says. "We didn't get into this thing to let somebody shit on us."
Bob Burtman
Ann Thomasson-Wilson has run Ann's Tackle Shop in Jasper for 13 years. She hears every theory there is about Rayburn, and she has concluded that the dead and diseased fish can't be blamed solely on drought.
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Don't expect Donohue and its allies to roll over, however. The company has far more resources at its disposal to wage a battle, as evidenced by the four busloads of influential Lufkinites that Donohue shipped to the public comment hearing in Austin. And with $230 million at stake, the company isn't likely to accept defeat. "It's gonna get ugly," says EPA toxicologist Phillip Jennings, who is involved with the agency's review of the standards changes.
Everyone involved believes the struggle will be a protracted one. Even if the TNRCC approves the changes, it'll have to get a federal OK. "This is far from over," says Jennings, who has a personal as well as professional interest: His grandfather worked at the mill, and he has fished Rayburn with his son. "EPA has to tell the state if the [rationale for the changes] is acceptable. We're going to look at it very carefully, because we are concerned."
And no matter which way the regulatory winds blow, the case is likely to move to a different venue in the end. "There's no doubt in my mind it'll end up in court," says Jack Yates, who directs the Texas Association of Bass Clubs and is on record against the changes.
Yates is conflicted about how to resolve the mess, though he's adamant about protecting Rayburn. His stand has cost him lifelong friendships. Members of his family have worked at the mill, and he knows how important it is to the people of Lufkin. "I'll be the first to tell you, that paper mill has to stay there," he says. "Killing that paper mill is not an option, but we need clean water."
Had the TNRCC, the mill, the anglers, and anyone else with a stake in Rayburn worked together on a solution, Yates believes, a compromise might have been reached. That should have happened long ago, however, and it may be too late. "There's got to be an answer out there that both sides can live with," he says. "But they've waited so long, they probably don't have time."
If that's true, Yates laments, both sides are gonna lose. "There's no winning to this."
