Expuestos y en el olvido: El aire tรณxico en una comunidad latina de Texas revela los fallos del sistema estatal de control de calidad del aire
Los datos pรบblicos de una red de monitores de la calidad del aire alrededor del Canal de Navegaciรณn de Houston son difรญciles de interpretar y a menudo son insuficientes, dejando a vecindarios de mayorรญa latina, como Cloverleaf, sin saber si el aire que respiran es seguro.
Neglected and exposed: Toxic air lingers in a Texas Latino community, revealing failures in stateโs air monitoring system
Public data from a network of state air monitors around the Houston Ship Channel is hard to interpret and is often inadequate, leaving Latino-majority neighborhoods like Cloverleaf unaware of whether the air they breathe is safe.
How Texas polluters classify big facilities as smaller ones to avoid stricter environmental rules and public input
Industrial developers describe large facilities as โminorโ polluters to avoid federal permitting requirements, and environmental lawyers say the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality lets it happen.
Texas quietly moves to formalize acceptable cancer risk from industrial air pollution. Public health officials say itโs not strict enough.
Without public hearings, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is proposing to adopt its 17-year-old standard that scientists and public health officials say fails to account for cumulative air pollution.
Texasโ environmental agency enables companies to increase oilfield wastewater disposal in rivers
Researchers are still studying the chemical makeup of โproduced waterโ from Permian Basin oil fields. But regulators say theyโre ready to issue permits to discharge the water into rivers and creeks.
For Texans, fighting state-regulated oilfield waste dumps can be a costly, do-it-yourself effort
Some Texans who challenge oil and gas waste sites must spend significant sums and time on investigating what they say the Texas Railroad Commission should examine. Will new regulations for handling waste increase oversight or just maintain the status quo?
The โ1-mile ruleโ: Texasโ unwritten, arbitrary policy protects big polluters from citizen complaints
Itโs not found anywhere in state law or the Texas Commission on Environmental Qualityโs rules, but for years the agency has denied citizens the ability to challenge air pollution permits because they live more than a mile away.
EPA will decide if the state is doing enough to reduce pollution in two East Texas counties
The federal agency has settled a lawsuit the Sierra Club brought over pollution from a coal-burning power plant. The agreement requires the EPA to weigh in on the stateโs plan to improve air quality in Rusk and Panola counties.
Texas House moves to crack down on polluters with stricter penalties and heavier oversight
The bill would require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to focus enforcement and increase penalties on repeat violators and increase public outreach. Still, environmental advocates say the effort was too โmodestโ in its reach.
At a heated public hearing, residents urge state agency to reject permit for chemical facility that burned in 2019
In Deer Park near Houston, memories of the massive ITC fire are still fresh. Residents told state environmental regulators they should reject the companyโs permit renewal, but officials said the fire wonโt be part of the decision.
For years, the EPA and Texas ignored warning signs at a chemical storage site. Then an inferno erupted.
Regulators repeatedly documented โ but did little to address โ problems at a Houston-area tank farm. Then on March 17, 2019, a fire blew through a corner of the facility, releasing toxic chemicals into nearby communities for weeks.
Senatorโs bill would fine Texans for multiple environmental complaints that donโt lead to enforcement
The bill would impose fines when residents make more than three complaints to the state environmental agency in a year if they donโt result in enforcement action. Critics warn the bill would discourage people from reporting pollution.
Environmental group says Texas fails to hold repeat polluters accountable for unexpected emissions
A new report found that companies in Texas have had 21,000 unexpected pollution releases that emitted 400,000 tons of air pollution over six years, but only 1% of them prompted action by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Environmental advocates push feds to investigate Texasโ enforcement of water quality
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to investigate allegations that the state is failing to enforce the Clean Water Act. Environmentalists say the Texas Commission on Environmental Qualityโs system of issuing permits has made it too easy for industries to contaminate rivers, lakes and estuaries.
Texas environmentalists push the EPA to crack down on methane emissions, saying state agencies have โfailed usโ
Commenting on the EPAโs proposed new rule to reduce methane leaks nationally, environmentalists said Texas regulators are hesitant to address emissions of the climate super-pollutant.
Texans affected by pollution from concrete plants push state agency to tighten regulations
As the stateโs environmental agency weighs new pollution limits on the plants, several lawmakers have filed bills that would put new restrictions on the facilities, which spew pollutants into mostly low-income neighborhoods.
After cancer-causing chemicals were found in Fifth Ward soil, Houston mayor says cleanup plans are inadequate
The cityโs health department found dioxins in soil samples along the fence line of a Union Pacific rail yard. Mayor Sylvester Turner said during the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival that plans to clean up the contamination should now include relocating residents.
Texas regulators proposed cracking down on harmful plastic โnurdlesโ โ and then changed their minds
The Texas coast is a hot spot for โnurdleโ pollution, tiny plastic pellets created in the process of producing everyday products. But a plan to require proactive prevention of their release has been scrapped.
Smog levels in Texas surge during heat wave, bringing worst summer air quality in a decade
Emissions are reacting with the summer heat to create high levels of smog, hazardous air pollution that damages the lungs. But state officials are pushing back on ozone pollution controls proposed by the EPA, arguing such rules would compromise the electric grid.