The latest environment news from The Texas Tribune.
Recent “upsets” like tripped compressors, pressure loss and freezing weather resulted in thousands of pounds of unauthorized pollution but no fines or citations from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Full Story
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San Antonio voters rejected by wide margins an effort to decriminalize abortion and require police to issue citations rather than make arrests for some nonviolent offenses. In El Paso, an effort to wean the city from fossil fuels fared similarly poorly. Full Story
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In Deer Park near Houston, memories of the massive ITC fire are still fresh. Residents told state environmental regulators they should reject the company’s permit renewal, but officials said the fire won’t be part of the decision. Full Story
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An estimated 500,000 people live in thousands of colonias along the Texas-Mexico border. Largely built between the 1950s and 1980s, these communities have been promised water — but it has never come. Full Story
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Water agencies have long resisted working together out of fear of losing their local powers. But an example from Florida could help save the Lone Star State’s water and infrastructure. Full Story
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Texas has more than 7,000 water systems. A fraction of them self-reported that they lost 30 billion gallons of water due to broken pipes and leaks in 2021. Full Story
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On a daily basis, water managers in cities across the state move from crisis to crisis hoping to keep the water flowing to residents. Full Story
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Environmental groups claim the Federal Aviation Administration let SpaceX do its own environmental assessment before its rocket self-destructed above the Texas coast and debris rained down over a wide area. Full Story
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The Texas Tribune analyzed previously unreported air monitoring data and records from the 2019 ITC chemical disaster near Houston and found that high benzene levels lingered in the air for two weeks after public health measures were lifted. Experts say more shelter-in-place advisories should have been issued. Full Story
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Regulators repeatedly documented — but did little to address — problems at a Houston-area tank farm. Then on March 17, 2019, a fire blew through a corner of the facility, releasing toxic chemicals into nearby communities for weeks. Full Story
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Experts talked about how and where the state can best invest money to keep Texas water safely flowing to the public. Full Story
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There were no people on board the rocket that took off from South Texas on Thursday morning. SpaceX officials said the incident will still inform the company’s future flights. Full Story
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In Franklin County, a group of locals are concerned about potential environmental harm from renewable energy facilities and support a bill that would impose more regulations on solar and wind. The industry says it’s being unfairly singled out. Full Story
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City officials say the full scope of the legislation advanced Tuesday is still unclear, but it would limit their ability to issue worker protections, water restrictions and more. Full Story
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The bill would require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to focus enforcement on repeat violators and increase public outreach. Full Story
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The bill would impose fines when residents make more than three complaints to the state environmental agency in a year if they don’t result in enforcement action. Critics warn the bill would discourage people from reporting pollution. Full Story
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The state fire marshal’s office is investigating. Full Story
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The EPA has proposed tougher air pollution rules for chemical plants and other industrial facilities after ProPublica found an estimated 74 million Americans near those sites faced an elevated risk of cancer. Full Story
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A coalition of environmental groups claims the EPA has failed for decades to update limits on the discharge of some dangerous chemicals into waterways. Most of the worst polluters are in Texas. Full Story
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declared the bracted twistflower, native to the Edwards Plateau, a threatened species, a month after putting another Texas plant on the endangered list. Full Story
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