Enforcement
Texas files suit against Houston-area polluters
In a December 20 press release, the Texas Attorney General's office announced that it has filed a lawsuit against four Houston-area companies for violations of air pollution laws.
According to documents filed in Travis County district court today, operations personnel at Lyondell Chemical Co., Equistar Chemicals, Millennium Petrochemicals Inc., and Millennium Petrochemicals GP repeatedly failed to prevent the release of harmful pollutants into the atmosphere. The Office of the Attorney General decided to seek civil penalties after its settlement negotiations with the four companies and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) reached an impasse earlier this year.
More hazardous waste burning in a metals recovery smelter
Houston correspondent Ralph Blumenthal of the New York Times reports that a copper plant illegally burned hazardous waste.
A bankrupt copper giant facing billions of dollars in pollution claims across the nation pretended for years to recycle metals while illegally burning hazardous waste in a notorious El Paso smelter, according to a newly released Environmental Protection Agency document.
The agency, in a 1998 internal memorandum, said the company, Asarco, and its Corpus Christi subsidiary, Encycle, had a permit to extract metals from hazardous waste products but used that as a cover to burn the waste until the late 1990’s, saving the high costs of proper disposal.
GHASP comments on the TCEQ-Valero settlement
On June 5, 2006, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Staff proposed an agreed order for resolution of multiple violations by Valero Refining-Texas, L.P. On July 10, the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention (GHASP), Mothers for Clean Air, and Environmental Defense, filed joint comments expressing our concern over the truncated nature of the public proceedings on this matter. On July 12, the Commissioners remanded the matter, and a second notice was issued.
Houston toxics exposure update
Air pollution levels in Houston's east end are improving, as reported by the Houston Chronicle.
The air in one of Houston's most polluted neighborhoods is getting cleaner, but levels of hazardous air pollutants in other Ship Channel communities are rising, a preliminary analysis of the latest state air quality data shows.
Measurements taken at more than 40 monitors in and around Harris County in 2005 show that concentrations of 1,3-butadiene, a carcinogenic chemical used to make rubber, are at their lowest level in five years in Manchester, where, in 2004, a Houston Chronicle investigation first exposed the problem.
Environmental group cites 3 Baytown plants
The Baytown Sun wrote a thorough article discussing our report on violations of the new hourly limit on HRVOC emissions.Â
At least one Baytown area petrochemical plant – and perhaps two others – has violated a new emissions standard since it went into effect in April.
What’s more, the Galveston Houston Association for Smog Prevention says in a recent report, local investigators of the state environmental protection agency did not have procedures in place to investigate violations of the rule before GHASP began making inquiries.
Federal prosecutors fail to pursue environmental crimes in Houston
An article in the Houston Chronicle on Sunday, Oct. 22 highlighted a drop in the number of prosecutions for environmental crimes in the Houston area by the U.S. Attorney General's Office.
Data from the Transactional Records Access Clearing House show, however, that the number of new environmental prosecutions by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas dwindled from 20 in fiscal 1998 to zero in 2005, the last year for which figures are available.
In fact, the last conviction that federal prosecutors secured for an environmental crime was in 2004. It involved two Fayette County farmers who illegally used a pesticide in an attempt to kill feral hogs.Â
TCEQ's new policy on collecting fines
The Citizens’ Environmental Coalition reports on a new collections policy for environmental fines.
After the state’s new fiscal year begins September 1, applicants for permits, registrations, certifications, or licenses from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality must pay any outstanding penalties or fines before the application can be processed. The new policy applies to all entities with the same customer number and applies across media; for example, a delinquent air fee would hold up the processing of a water permit. Operating without the required permit, license, or registration from the TCEQ is violation of the law and the business could be subject to more fines. Applicants that are on a TCEQ-approved payment plan or in bankruptcy proceedings are exempt from the new enforcement procedure.
According to the TCEQ, an estimated $5 million of the $135 million invoiced by the agency in fiscal year 05 is still outstanding.
GHASP and MfCA talk with Kinky Friedman on air quality
On July 10, 2006, Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman made Houston his first stop on an "environmental learning tour" around the state. His staff asked GHASP and Mothers for Clean Air to take the lead on introducing Kinky to Houston's air quality concerns.
After a presentation at GHASP's offices, we took Kinky and company on a tour of the Houston Ship Channel area. We stopped at the Clinton Drive air quality monitor and discussed how industrial air pollution affects the local communities. Then we headed out to Baytown via 225, so Kinky could get a look at some of the large petrochemical facilities that are located in our region.
Emission events rules
Chemical plants, refineries, power plants and other industrial facilities that hold air pollution permits are subject to state rules regarding emission events. Often referred to as upsets, emission events include air pollution released during malfunctions (accidents), maintenance activities, unit startups and unit shutdowns.
Exceeding the Limit
Industry Violations of New Rule Almost Slid Under State's Radar
Houston-area industrial facilities have regularly violated a key air pollution regulation during the first two months it has been in effect. Their failure to comply with the new rule – which sets an hourly limit on specific emissions – places the region’s strategy for reducing ozone smog at risk. Yet the state’s environmental agency has only recently begun investigating the incidents.
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