Texas companies have had 21,000 unexpected pollution releases that emitted 400,000 tons of air pollution over six years, according to a new report. But only 1% of them prompted action by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the report found.
A refinery in Brazoria County. An environmental group’s new study criticizes the state environmental agency for failing to punish companies that report accidental pollution releases., The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
The report found that only 119 out of 21,769 unplanned emissions events were designated “excessive” by the TCEQ. Tagging an event as “excessive” means that companies are required to analyze and pinpoint the root causes of the event and submit a plan outlining how they will prevent similar releases in the future.
“The system that TCEQ implements, it isn’t designed to protect the people,” Clark-Leach said. “It isn’t designed to protect air quality. …Vigorous enforcement of pollution control requirements isn’t going to destroy the economy. It’s going to be good for the public.”by the EIP and Environment Texas, unexpected emissions events in Texas caused about 42 deaths per year for those ages 65 and older in addition to creating $250 million in damages every year.
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