Coastal area looking at ban on plastic shopping bags

PORT ISABEL — The sight of plastic shopping bags fluttering in the breeze or impaled on fences and bushes in the Laguna Madre area may one day be a thing of the past.

Thursday evening commissioners and aldermen from the cities and towns of South Padre Island, Port Isabel, Laguna Vista and Los Fresnos met in a joint session at Port Isabel City Hall to discuss several items of mutual interest, including a possible ban on point-of-sale of plastic shopping bags.

Port Isabel Mayor Joe Vega, who placed the item on the agenda, said he would like to see the towns work together to prohibit their use.

But he said that because the Laguna Madre area is a popular tourist destination, any ordinances should take into consideration that visitors are not likely to bring their own reusable shopping bags with them on vacation.

South Padre Island Mayor Robert Pinkerton said his city was already moving forward on the problem.

Those who attended were given a copy of an ordinance passed by the city of Brownsville in January, which calls for merchants to voluntarily discontinue using disposable plastic bags this year. The ban will be come mandatory in January, and penalties will be assessed for violations.

Brownsville Mayor Pat Ahumada, after hearing about the Laguna Madre initiative, wrote in an e-mail, "The (Brownsville) plastic bag ordinance passed with the support of Sunrise Mall retailers, H-E-B, WalMart and citizens. The response was overwhelming in favor of the ordinance."

Plastic bag ban proponents sayd that while disposable plastic bags are cheaper than paper bags, their costs is more than offset by the costs of litter clean up and in acquiring landfill space for ultimate disposal.

According to the Brownsville ordinance, marine animals die when they are entangled in discarded bags. Reported annual deaths from such incidents surpasses the 100,000 mark.

Laguna Madre Water District General Manager Gavino Sotelo said plastic bags tend to clog storm drains, causing flooding, as well as the expense of clearing the clogs.

The Tri-City meeting — actually four cities since Los Fresnos has joined the group — did not pass a formal resolution. But all agreed to work together on some type of control over the use of disposable plastic shopping bags. City managers will share information on the project, and each city will hold workshops with an aim to banning or otherwise controlling their use.

Reusable shopping bags are already available from the South Padre Island Chamber of Commerce, H-E-B supermarkets and Wal-Mart stores.

The Tri-Cities group meets four times a year to discuss mutual problems. The group has no formal ordinance or enforcement powers. But its recommendations are taken seriously by the individual towns and cities, which often pass ordinances or take other actions as a result.