
In Booming Central Texas, Wastewater Is Polluting Rivers and Streams
A bill in the Texas Legislature would protect the last 21 pristine watersheds. But for years, previous attempts have been defeated by powerful homebuilders.
Since 1954
A bill in the Texas Legislature would protect the last 21 pristine watersheds. But for years, previous attempts have been defeated by powerful homebuilders.
Environmental lawyers say the state watchdog agency lets polluters escape regulation through legal loopholes.
Pollution from the energy sector has impacted soil, contaminated water resources and killed wildlife while the state resists new regulations.
Judges argued that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality illegally enabled Port Arthur LNG to avoid air pollution control requirements.
Advocates say the approval process is more of a "rubber stamp" for oil and gas companies to keep polluting indefinitely.
The state is proposing to approve a 17-year-old standard that leading scientists and public health officials call inadequate.
Critics worry about leakage through rock layers, pipeline safety and the lackluster record of the technology onshore.
The policy has been denounced in lawsuits and petitions, but the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality denies that it exists.
One company, Targa Resources, vented more than 500,000 pounds of toxins into the air during 17 reported events over a week-long period of extreme heat.
From Appalachia to Texas and Louisiana, new environmental justice reports highlight how our struggles are connected.