
Illegal Air Pollution is Skyrocketing in Texas, But State Regulators are Ignoring Complaints
An environmental watchdog submitted evidence of dozens of violations, but the state’s environmental agency rarely followed up.
Since 1954
An environmental watchdog submitted evidence of dozens of violations, but the state’s environmental agency rarely followed up.
Even as the agency reduced enforcement, it continued processing permits that allow businesses to pollute up to certain limits at about the same rate that it did last year.
Kathy Stewart has complained for years about the fecal dust invading Yellowhouse Canyon. But so far, her concerns have mostly been ignored.
After three plants shut down in late 2017, legal air pollution in Texas fell by 150,000 tons.
In the Texas Panhandle, which produces a fifth of the U.S. beef supply, communities are being choked by fecal dust from nearby feedlots. The state’s regulatory agency isn’t doing anything about it—and it’s about to get a whole lot worse.
Unauthorized emission incidents resulted in 135 million pounds of illegal air pollution, according to a new report by Environment Texas.
Other states were harder hit by the spill, but Texas is still receiving millions of dollars that can be used for vital restoration and conservation efforts.
Texas, the nation’s largest oil and gas producer, doesn’t otherwise regulate the potent greenhouse gas.
As the agency courts tankers that can carry 2.2 million barrels of crude each, activists worry that the plan could spoil the habitats of the aquatic species that thrive here.
After years of inaction, the state environmental agency is poised to force German Pellets to install pollution controls at its Woodville processing plant.