Toxic red tide algae, last seen in 2018, returns to Texas coast
Areas of the Texas Gulf Coast are seeing blooms of the algae, which can make people sick and kill fish. Full Story
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Alejandra Martinez is a Fort Worth-based environmental reporter. She’s covered the impacts of petrochemical facilities on Black and brown communities, including investigating a chemical fire at an industrial complex and how the state's air monitoring system has failed Latino communities. Her work on climate change includes exploring the health effects of extreme heat and how extended droughts affect water resources. Before joining the Tribune in 2022, Alejandra was an accountability reporter at KERA, where she began as a Report for America Corps Member and then covered Dallas City Hall. She also has worked as an associate producer at WLRN in South Florida. A Houston native, Alejandra studied journalism at the University of Texas at Austin and speaks fluent Spanish.
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![Red tide cell concentrations are visible in the water near South Padre Island on Oct. 27, 2009.]()
Credit: Courtesy of TPWD -
SpaceX can’t launch another rocket until dozens of fixes are made, FAA says
An investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration found multiple failures that led to the explosion of a SpaceX rocket in the Rio Grande Valley in April. Full Story
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![SpaceX's SpaceX’s Starship lifts off from the company's Boca Chica launchpad on an uncrewed test flight before exploding, near Brownsville on April 20, 2023.]()
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EPA’s inspector general says agency isn’t enforcing benzene pollution rules at refineries in Texas, nationally
A report by the federal environmental agency’s internal watchdog found that EPA is failing to enforce its own pollution limits for the known carcinogen at many refineries — including some in Texas. Full Story
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![A Deer Park neighborhood next to Highway 225, which borders the refineries, petrochemical plants and industrial storage tanks that line the Houston Ship Channel. In 2019, air quality inspectors found that high levels of benzene emissions had wafted across the highway and into residential areas of Deer Park in the weeks after the ITC chemical fire was extinguished.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune/Public Health Watch -
Texas takes legal action to save Fairfield Lake State Park
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department began the legal process of eminent domain to seize the former state park and save it from being turned into an upscale subdivision. The agency had offered a Dallas-based developer $103 million for it. Full Story
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![A view of Fairfield Lake at Fairfield Lake State Park on Feb. 27, 2023.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
ERCOT’s pleas for power conservation raise concerns: Are Texans tuning them out?
Repetitive power conservation appeals by the state’s grid operator face a challenge: Texans becoming less responsive to calls. Past conservation requests have helped reduce 100,000 homes worth of power demand on the grid. Full Story
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![Reliability Coordinators monitored the state power grid during a tour of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) command center in Taylor in 2012.]()
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New state law allows walking on roads when sidewalks are blocked or unsafe
The law restricting pedestrians from walking on roads has been revised to let pedestrians use roadways in certain situations. Full Story
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![An eastbound view of East Stassney Lane in South Austin on Feb. 15, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott declares wildfire disaster for three-fourths of Texas
At least 8,500 acres of Texas land have burned since Aug. 1. The governor’s disaster declaration allows included counties to access state resources to fight wildfires. Full Story
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![The Rolling Pines Fire blazes through Bastrop State Park on Jan. 18, 2022.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas sues Shell over Houston-area chemical fire in May
The lawsuit seeks $1 million in damages, claiming the three-day blaze at Shell’s Deer Park facility caused air and water pollution that violated state law. Full Story
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![Deer Park, Texas: An overhead view of an explosion at a Shell USA Inc. facility on May 5, 2023 in Deer Park, Texas.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Dallas developer starts construction at former Fairfield Lake State Park despite threat of land seizure
Todd Interests, which plans to turn the former park into a high-end subdivision, has a week left to respond to the state’s final offer for the property. Full Story
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Credit: Courtesy of Foxfield Agency -
As Texas sizzles, heat experts say preparation is needed for future extreme weather events
The panelists at a Texas Tribune event emphasized the need for a response to combat the dangerous impacts of extreme events that ensures communities receive support to effectively plan, prepare, and recover. Full Story
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