It has been a year now, since the death of my friend and colleague, Tom Bashara. Tom was the first to figure out the problem of coal tar sealant pollution. Recently the City of Austin named the location of his discovery “Bashara Creek.” The following is what accompanied the announcement:
On April 4, 2012, the City of Austin erected a sign in the Barton Creek Greenbelt to pay tribute to Tom Bashara for discovering that coal tar pavement sealants were a source of elevated PAHs in Austin’s waterways. This discovery on August 17, 2002 led to the City of Austin being the first in the nation to ban these sealants.
So in his honor, the sign officially names a Barton Creek tributary “Bashara Creek,” where the contamination was first discovered.
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