Caldwell County Research Articles

A Comprehensive Approach to the Opioid Crisis in Caldwell County, North Carolina

A Comprehensive Approach to the Opioid Crisis in Caldwell County, North Carolina

High rates of hydrogen sulfide emissions measured from marginal oil wells near Austin and San Antonio, Texas

Marginal oil and gas wells, or wells that produce less than 15 barrels of oil equivalent per day, represent 80% of actively producing wells in the United States, although they produce less than 10% of energy supply. Marginal wells are a disproportionate source of methane (CH4) relative to their production, and they emit harmful air pollutants, such as benzene and other hydrocarbons found in oil and natural gas. We made direct measurements of CH4 and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) emissions from 46 wellheads in the Luling Field, Caldwell County, Texas, just east of the Austin/San Antonio Metroplex. We found that these wells are venting natural gas and are a large source of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a poisonous air pollutant. Hydrogen sulfide emission rates ranged from 0 to 5 ± 0.5 g H2S hr−1 with an average emission rate of 1.6 ± 0.1 g H2S hr−1. We also found ambient concentrations of H2S at dangerous levels (>100 ppm) near many of the wells. Methane emission rates were in line with previous studies of marginal wells, ranging from 0.0 to 2770 ± 390 g CH4 hr−1, with a skewed distribution and average emission rate of 710 ± 100 g CH4 hr−1. Oil production records from Texas were incomplete: some wells had oil production data from the year of sampling, but many had no production data for several years or decades, although they were actively pumping while we were on site. Interviews with local residents indicate that the closing of the county gas processing plant and subsequent loss of gathering lines may be the cause of gas venting and CH4 and H2S emissions from production sites. This deserves further scrutiny, as marginal wells in this region are a major source of H2S, a health hazard to people living and working nearby.

Short Report on an Intensive Archeological Survey for the City Of Lockhart’s Proposed Sidewalk Improvements Project, Lockhart, Caldwell County, Texas

On behalf of the City of Lockhart (the City), TRC Environmental Corporation (TRC) recently conducted an intensive archeological survey for the City’s sidewalk improvements project located in Lockhart, Caldwell County, Texas. According to design plans, the project will entail the construction of a 10-foot (ft) wide by 2,220 ft long concrete sidewalk that will enhance connectivity and accessibility through Lockhart City Park (Figures 1-1 and 1-2). The Area of Potential Effects (APE) is 0.98 acres in size (Appendix A: Design Plans). Concrete path construction will cause disturbance of up to one foot below the existing grade along the alignment of the path. As the project will be located on lands under purview of an entity of the State of Texas, the project is subject to compliance with the Antiquities Code of Texas (ACT). During coordination with the Texas Historical Commission (THC) it was determined that the APE located east of State Highway (Hwy) 183 would require survey prior to construction (Appendix B: Regulatory Correspondence). Archeological survey was conducted on October 8, 2019 by Benjamin Johnson and Steven Sarich and on October 17, 2019 by Pollyanna Clark, Josh Haefner, Benjamin Johnson and Steven Sarich. During the survey, five shovel tests were excavated and four no dig locations were recorded. Due to the proximity of the APE to marked graves, the presence of the broken grave marker deposited downslope, and the inaccuracy of the currently mapped cemetery boundary on the THC Atlas, TRC recommended that the portion of the APE that coincides with the Lockhart Cemetery be subject to machine scraping. On November 5, 2019 the survey area was revisited to conduct mechanical scraping where the APE was noted to be in proximity to marked burials. No evidence of any cultural materials or grave shafts were encountered during monitoring of scraping.

Addendum Report: Additional Cultural Resources Investigations of the Vista Ridge Regional Water Supply Project in Burleson, Lee, Bastrop, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Comal and Bexar Counties, Texas

Addendum Report: Additional Cultural Resources Investigations of the Vista Ridge Regional Water Supply Project in Burleson, Lee, Bastrop, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Comal and Bexar Counties, Texas

Mississippian (Serpukhovian; Chesterian Stage) coals from the Fluorspar District, Crittenden and Caldwell counties, Kentucky: Petrological and palynological compositions and their indications for peat-producing ecosystems

Serpukhovian Stage (Chesterian Stage in North American nomenclature) coals in western Kentucky are among the few occurrences of Mississippian coals in eastern North America. Thus, they provide a rare view of early Carboniferous peat-producing ecosystems. Petrographically, the coals are dominated by telovitrinites. Among the inertinite macerals, coprolitic macrinite provides evidence of arthropods fungal-degraded wood. Cutinite has an association with epiphyllous fungus.Owing to the relatively high spore contributions from arborescent Lycopsids, the coals bear a palynologic resemblance to the Pennsylvanian Langsettian through Asturian (Westphalian) coals preserved in the nearby Western Kentucky coalfield. The maceral assemblages, however, show a greater similarity to the Upper Pennsylvanian (Stephanian) coals in western Kentucky. With 66–67% total vitrinite and about 29% total inertinite (dominated by fusinite+semifusinite) (both as volume percent, mineral-fee basis), the Mississippian coals have significantly lower vitrinite percentages than the Westphalian coals. The petrographic similarity is not paralleled by a floristic similarity as the Stephanian flora was marked by the absence of arborescent Lycopsids. Overall, the amount of inertinites and the degradation suggested by a number of the inertinite forms suggests that, not unexpectedly decay and degradation was an important contributor to the Mississippian coals. As with any coals, the Mississippian coals represent a story of preservation more than that of degradation and destruction, with degraded and poorly-preserved fusinite and semifusinite, coprolitic macrinite, and remnants of fungi being the ghosts of the destruction of the biomass.

Cultural Resources Investigations of the Vista Ridge Regional Water Supply Project in Burleson, Lee, Bastrop, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Comal and Bexar Counties, Texas

On behalf of VRRSP Consultants, LLC and Central Texas Regional Water Supply Corporation (CTRWSC), SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) conducted cultural resources investigations of the Vista Ridge Regional Water Supply (Vista Ridge) Project in Burleson, Lee, Bastrop, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Comal, and Bexar Counties. The work will involve installation of a 139.45-mile-long, 60-inch-diameter water pipeline from northcentral San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, to Deanville, Burleson County, Texas. The report details the findings of investigations from June 2015 to December 2015, on the alignment dated December 8, 2015 (December 8th). The Vista Ridge Project is subject to review under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 USC 306108) and its implementing regulations (36 CFR 800), in anticipation of a Nationwide Permit 12 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in accordance with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. In addition, the work is subject to compliance with the Antiquities Code of Texas under Permit Number 7295, as the Vista Ridge Project will be ultimately owned by a political subdivision of the State of Texas. The cultural resources investigations included a background review and intensive field survey. The background review identified previous investigations, recorded archaeological sites, National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) properties, cemeteries, standing structures, and other known cultural resources within a 0.50-mile radius of the project area. The field investigations conducted from June 2015 through December 2015 assessed all accessible portions of the proposed December 8th alignment as of December 25, 2015. Approximately 101.8 miles of the 139.45-mile alignment has been surveyed. Approximately 24.42 miles were not surveyed based on the results of the background review and extensive disturbances as confirmed by vehicular survey. The remaining 13.23 miles that require survey were either unavailable due to landowner restrictions or part of a newly adopted reroute. SWCA also surveyed additional mileage, which includes rerouted areas that are no longer part of the December 8th alignment. The inventory identified 59 cultural resources, including 52 archaeological sites and seven isolated finds. In addition to newly recorded resources, two previously recorded archaeological sites were revisited, and two cemeteries were documented. Of the 52 newly recorded archaeological sites, seven are recommended for further work or avoidance. Of the two revisited archeological sites, one is recommended for further work or avoidance within the project area. Avoidance is recommended for both documented cemeteries. The resources with undetermined eligibility require additional testing or other avenues of research before SWCA can make a firm recommendation about their eligibility for nomination to the NRHP and designation as State Antiquities Landmarks (SALs). As part of a management strategy, the resources with undetermined eligibility may also be avoided by reroute or boring beneath. The remaining 45 cultural resources are recommended not eligible for inclusion to the NRHP or for designation as SALs and no further cultural resources investigations or avoidance strategies are recommended.

Four Crayfishes (Decapoda: Cambaridae) New to the North Carolina Fauna, With Notes on Other Species in the State

Abstract Cambarus (Puncticambarus) aldermanorum, originally considered endemic to South Carolina, is now known from the upper Catawba River basin in Burke and Caldwell counties, North Carolina. Orconectes (Crockerinus) erichsonianus and Orconectes (Procericambarus) forceps, both previously known from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, are apparently now expanding their ranges from Tennessee into the French Broad River basin in Madison County, North Carolina. Cambarus (Cambarus) eeseeohensis, an endemic species once considered limited in distribution to the Linville River in Avery County, is reported from the Watauga River basin in Watauga County and the Johns River subdrainage of the Catawba River basin in Avery County. Voucher specimens for new localities for an undescribed endemic species, Orconectes (Procericambarus) sp. (the “Cheoah” crayfish), and two invasive species, Orconectes (Gremicambarus) virilis and Orconectes (Procericambarus) rusticus, are provided. A single specimen of a non-native species, Procambarus (Pennides) spiculifer, is reported from a tributary of the Watauga River in Watauga County. Some life history and taxonomic notes for several of the species are included.

Archeological Investigations at the Santa Maria Creek Site (41CW104) Caldwell County, Texas

The excavations by Atkins at the Santa Maria Creek site (41CW104) described in the following report have succeeded in bringing together a myriad of information regarding aboriginal occupations in eastern Central Texas at the dawn of the Historic period. The analysis of the materials recovered from National Register of Historic Places testing and data recovery has demonstrated that even a site buried in sandy, bioturbated sediments can still significantly add to the archeological record. This becomes even more important for areas such as Caldwell County, Texas, which have witnessed few such investigations. The report utilized a wide array of analytical techniques to unravel the site, including extensive ethnohistorical research, artifact analysis, special studies, and experimental archeology.

Improving use of narcotics for nonmalignant chronic pain: A lesson from Community Care of North Carolina

To describe the development, implementation, and effects of collaborative effort to reduce diversion of prescription drugs in Caldwell County, NC. Development and implementation of practice guideline, statewide opioid registry, and survey of all primary care providers. Rural Caldwell County, NC, has a population of 83,029, of which 89 percent are non-Hispanic White; 2009 median household income of $35,489. All primary care clinicians in the county (N = 35). A task force developed and implemented a practice guideline that encouraged the following: 1) signing of pain contracts; 2) requiring patients to undergo random urine drug testing; and 3) requiring random pill counts. North Carolina implemented a statewide registry in 2007 that contained information on virtually all opioid prescriptions filled by pharmacies. Opioid pill confiscations by the Caldwell County Narcotics Division 24 months prior to implementation of the guidelines, the first 12 months during guideline implementation, and 12 months after the guideline was fully implemented. From 2005 to 2007, opioid pill confiscations decreased by 300 percent. Of the 35 physicians who were sent surveys, 27 responded (77 percent response rate). Ninety percent of respondents who prescribe opioids use the chronic pain guidelines. Sixty percent report an improvement in the overall management of patients with chronic pain; 65 percent reported having more confidence in treating patients with chronic pain; and 60 percent reported using the opioid registry. This county wide medical initiative appears to have resulted in a significant improvement in the abuse and diversion of medically derived opioids.

Improving use of narcotics for nonmalignant chronic pain: A lesson from Community Care of North Carolina

Objective: To describe the development, implementation, and effects of collaborative effort to reduce diversion of prescription drugs in Caldwell County, NC. Design: Development and implementation of practice guideline, statewide opioid registry, and survey of all primary care providers. Setting: Rural Caldwell County, NC, has a population of 83,029, of which 89 percent are non-Hispanic White; 2009 median household income of $35,489. Patients, participants: All primary care clinicians in the county (N = 35). Interventions: A taskforce developed and implemented a practice guideline that encouraged the following: 1) signing of pain contracts; 2) requiring patients to undergo random urine drug testing; and 3) requiring random pill counts. North Carolina implemented a statewide registry in 2007 that contained information on virtually all opioid prescriptions filled by pharmacies. Main outcome measure(s): Opioid pill confiscations by the Caldwell County Narcotics Division 24 months prior to implementation of the guidelines, the first 12 months during guideline implementation, and 12 months after the guideline was fully implemented. Results: From 2005 to 2007, opioid pill confiscations decreased by 300 percent. Of the 35 physicians who were sent surveys, 27 responded (77 percent response rate). Ninety percent of respondents who prescribe opioids use the chronic pain guidelines. Sixty percent report an improvement in the overall management of patients with chronic pain; 65 percent reported having more confidence in treating patients with chronic pain; and 60 percent reported using the opioid registry. Conclusions: This countywide medical initiative appears to have resulted in a significant improvement in the abuse and diversion of medically derived opioids. Keywords: law enforcement, collaboration, practice guideline, primary care DOI:10.5055/jom.2012.0136

Reverse Education: A Step Back to Move Forward

Reverse Education: A Step Back to Move Forward

First Report of Soybean Rust Caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi on Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata) in Kentucky.

Phakopsora pachyrhizi, the causal organism of soybean rust, was first observed in the continental United States on 6 November 2004 (2). On 11 November 2005, as part a national soybean rust monitoring effort, 75 leaves of kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata) were arbitrarily collected from a patch growing in Princeton, Caldwell County, Kentucky (37.106650°N, 87.886120°W) that had been periodically scouted for the presence of the disease since May 2005. Upon microscopic examination of the nonincubated sample, a small (˜2.0 cm2) area of one leaf exhibited lesions, uredinia, and urediniospores characteristic of those reported for P. pachyrhizi (the Asian species) and P. meibomiae (the New World species) (2). No other infected leaves were observed despite repeated visits to the site and collection and observation of nearly 200 leaves. On 16 November 2005, one-half of the symptomatic tissue was sent by overnight courier to the USDA/APHIS/PPQ/NIS Laboratory, Beltsville, MD and the other half was sent to the Southern Plant Diagnostic Network Laboratory (SPDN), University of Florida, Gainesville. Both laboratories confirmed that the rust was a Phakopsora spp. on the basis of morphological examination. The preliminary polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing conducted by the SPDN according to Harmon et al. (1) indicated the presence of P. pachyrhizi that was confirmed by the USDA/NPGBL using the validated modified real-time PCR assay described previously (2). The field diagnosis of P. pachyrhizi and preliminary PCR results were officially confirmed by USDA/APHIS on 18 November 2005. To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. pachyrhizi on kudzu or any host in Kentucky, and currently, the northernmost report of soybean rust on any host in the continental United States.

Archaeological Monitoring of the Caldwell County Courthouse Rehabilitation, Lockhart, Texas

In February 1999, the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) entered into a contract with American Restoration of New Braunfels, Texas, to monitor utility trenches being excavated on the grounds of the Caldwell County Courthouse in Lockhart, Texas, under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 2117. The utilities were installed in connection with the exterior rehabilitation being conducted by the firm of Ford, Powell, and Carson, Architects. Five visits to the project between February and October of 1999 involved monitoring of mechanical trench excavations, selective screening of trenching backdirt, and surface collections. Monitoring of excavations and the inspection of trench profiles and contents have identified substantial disturbances on the courthouse grounds. These disturbances include utility line trenching associated with previous installations of water, sewer and electric lines, and grade modifications and introduced fill associated with landscaping. Selective screening and surface collections yielded artifacts relating to the construction and use of the three successive courthouses that have existed on the site. However, these artifacts derive from highly disturbed contexts and lack associational integrity. No traces of the foundations of the two previous courthouses were encountered during the trenching.

Pearsall (Aptian Cretaceous) Subsurface to Outcrop Sequence Stratigraphy, Central Texas: ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT Bexar (Upper Pearsall) Shale is a widespread subsurface body of marine clay mudstone; in south-central Texas it disappears updip along a line through central Medina and Bexar Counties and the northwestern edges of Guadalupe, Caldwell, and Bastrop Counties. Bexar Shale overlies calichified Cow Creek Limestone and underlies Hensel Dolomite; in outcrop Hensel Dolomite rests on calichified Cow Creek. The Cow Creek and other mid-Pearsall limestones are local high-stand deposits; the basal Bexar is a transgressive bed and the bulk of the unit a shoaling-upward ramp deposit. Hensel silty dolomite (laminated to churned, with glauconite, collophane, beekite, and milky quartz geodes) and overlying Lower Glen Rose grainstones (containing widespread subarkose sand grains) are a high-stand lagoon/bar sequence that overlaid Bexar Shale and spread 25 km inland from the Bexar pinchout. The Hensel/basal Glen Rose shoaling sequence is the earliest of three in the Lower Glen Rose. Type Hensel Sandstone around Lake Travis was deposited (from local flash floods) after 35 m of marine Bexar shale and 35-50 m of Glen Rose carbonates farther south (an ammonite zone later). Deep red clay between calichified Cow Creek and Hensel Sandstone around Lake Travis may be remnant Bexar Shale or may be local and unrelated. Actual eustatic/tectonic/sediment-supply history does not fit a simple sequence-stratigraphic pattern.

Rank-and-File Voters and the Coming of the Civil War: Caldwell County, Kentucky, as Test Case

Rank-and-File Voters and the Coming of the Civil War: Caldwell County, Kentucky, as Test Case

Reservoir Description of Luling Field, Caldwell and Guadalupe Counties, Texas: ABSTRACT

Reservoir Description of Luling Field, Caldwell and Guadalupe Counties, Texas: ABSTRACT

Austin Chalk and Buda Limestone (Cretaceous) Petroleum Reservoirs in Caldwell County, Texas—A Case History

The Austin Chalk and Buda Limestone are commercial oil reservoirs along a 250-mile trend extending from Dimmit to Burleson counties, Texas. This south Texas Cretaceous hydrocarbon trend has been the focus during the past six decades of several ‘drilling booms’ which have delimited numerous large oil fields in fractured carbonate reservoirs adjacent to major faults. Data from wells drilled near two newly mapped faults in Caldwell County, Texas, indicate that, despite its maturely drilled status, the Austin-Buda trend has some future exploratory potential. Representative well histories reveal drilling and completion problems and economic risks that characterize the Austin-Buda trend.

Archaeological Testing of Site 41CW25

Testing of Site 41CW25 on County Road 226, Caldwell County, to determine eligibility for inclusion within the National Register of Historic Places and to determine site depth, cultural context, and archaeological significance, was undertaken in January, 1984. The site lies on a high terrace of the north bank of the Clear Fork of Plum Creek, 1.6 miles east of US Highway 183 where County Road 226 crosses the creek. Evidence recovered demonstrates that insufficient material exists within the right-of-way to support a determination of eligibility for inclusion within the National Register.

Windows into Time

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsThad SittonDuring 1977-1978, Thad Sitton was employed as a curriculum specialist for the Caldwell County Oral History Project in Lockhart, Texas. He is presently an assistant professor of education at St. Mary’s Dominican College in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Caldwell County Project: Creating a Usable Past

INITIATED IN 1976, the Caldwell County Tri-Cultural Oral History Project received its primary financial support from successive grants from the Emergency School Aid Act (ESAA), with supplementary funding from the Texas Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.? In retrospect, the initial ESAA grant seems rather unusual. As its name implies, ESAA normally supports schools and school-based programs, but in 1976 its directors chose to support a project in community education. The reasons for ESAA's involvement clearly relate to interethnic group relationships in Caldwell County, though these circumstances are in no way peculiar to central Texas.