As drought persists, Texas ranchers take stock
In parts of Texas experiencing severe droughts, some ranchers are finding there is practically no grass left for cattle to graze on. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-Cows012.JPG)
-
![The U.S. Department of Agriculture is abandoning the use of hot-iron branding and moving towards the use of ear tags for the identification of cattle.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Revisit some of The Texas Tribune’s best stories of 2019
Our reporters crisscrossed the Texas Capitol and traveled to the Panhandle and East Texas — as well as the Netherlands and Honduras — to tell stories about the state's politics, people and places. From a story on a migrant's desperate journey to a look at how coal companies are leaving behind contaminated land, here is a selection of their best work of the year. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a1b3d6cc02b6365d7e1ce8d459264a4c/Reverse%20Capitol%20Texas%20Flag%20AP%20TT.jpg)
![View from the Capitol Rotunda in Austin.]()
Credit: Austin Price for The Texas Tribune -
Sierra Club intervenes in open records lawsuit against Texas Attorney General
The environmental group is trying to obtain documents showing how the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality arrived at a decision on increasing emissions limits for a toxic chemical. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/4f339762cf2a64c592e3ee455d58a20e/M%20Honeycutt%20EPA%20TT.jpg)
![Michael Honeycutt, director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's toxicology division, also serves as chair of the Science Advisory Board at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Sierra Club has requested Honeycutt's emails and other communications related to a controversial rule change.]()
Credit: Texas Commission on Environmental Quality -
Texas regulators want stiffer penalties for company whose Port Neches plant exploded
In a surprising vote, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality rejected a staff-proposed penalty against TPC Group's Port Neches chemical plant — which was rocked by explosions last month — for a slew of 2018 pollution violations and asked that they be referred to the Texas Attorney General's Office. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/4929d8311cb99d0a311fb3affdcd2293/Port%20Neches%20Explosion%20REUTERS%20TT%2003.JPG)
![A process tower flies through air after exploding at the TPC Group Petrochemical Plant in Port Neches. An earlier massive explosion sparked a blaze at the plant on Nov. 27, 2019.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Erwin Seba -
In win for Harvey victims, federal judge finds government liable for reservoir flooding
During Hurricane Harvey, thousands of properties behind two federally owned reservoirs flooded. On Tuesday, the United States Court of Federal Claims ruled that the government was liable for the flooding and that property owners are eligible for damages. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/10/03/BARKERADDICKSBEFOREAFTER4130_TT.jpg)
![Development encroaching on the north side of Addicks Reservoir in Houston on Sept. 7, 2016.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Watchdog report finds air pollution monitoring fell short during Hurricane Harvey
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General found that state and federal environmental regulators didn't start monitoring air quality soon enough during the monster storm, which brought a spike in hazardous emissions from industrial facilities. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a887a83c06d428edfb9c118e4d78c5aa/Arkema_fire_REUTERS_TT.jpg)
![A fire burns at the flooded plant of French chemical maker Arkema SA after Tropical Storm Harvey passed in Crosby on August 31, 2017.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Adrees Latif -
County ends voluntary evacuation of Port Neches, the second since last week's plant explosion
After recommending Wednesday night that residents leave the area, Jefferson County officials have told residents it's safe to return home. Full Story
![A process tower flies through air after exploding at the TPC Group Petrochemical Plant in Port Neches. An earlier massive explosion sparked a blaze at the plant on Nov. 27, 2019.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Erwin Seba -
Report: Texas ranks second in budget cuts for environmental protection
An analysis by the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Integrity Project found that 30 states have cut funding to environmental agencies over the past decade. In Texas, lawmakers slashed spending by more than a third between 2008 and 2018. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/28c4ec5834b15172128825ea6e204642/Pumpjacks_mist_JF_TT.jpg)
![Fog in a low lying area where pumpjacks and powerlines populate the range along SW 5000 in Andrews County northeast of Kermit, Texas.]()
Credit: Jerod Foster for The Texas Tribune -
Retired Texas shrimper wins record-breaking $50 million settlement from plastics manufacturing giant
U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt approved the settlement agreement between a scrappy environmental coalition and plastics giant Formosa. The settlement is the largest in U.S. history resulting from a citizen environmental suit. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/8ceb6aabbdb46a71b0a891a7e3f898e2/05_Formosa_Plastic_Pollution_EW.jpg)
![Diane Wilson organizes bags of that contain plastic pellet samples she's collected over the past three years. Seadrift, Texas. March 20, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver / The Texas Tribune -
Pipeline giant sues Railroad Commission, alleging lax oversight of natural gas flaring
A subsidiary of Tulsa-based Williams Cos. is suing Texas' oil and gas regulatory agency after it approved a request from Dallas-based Exco Operating Co. to burn off natural gas from wells in South Texas while they were hooked up to Williams' pipeline system. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/eed3e86daa540cdcd1c3fdd5bf0fb528/poison_gas_sign_w_flare_MKC_TT.jpg)
![Sign indicating the presence of poison gas in Pecos County, Texas.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Port Neches plant rocked by multiple explosions has history of environmental missteps
The Southeast Texas chemical manufacturing plant, owned by Houston-based Texas Petroleum Chemical Group, has been fined multiple times by state and federal regulators for air pollution violations. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/d72f6d117a7b065bb53da1fc3c9ba7f5/Port%20Neches%20Explosion%20REUTERS%20TT%2001.JPG)
![An explosion and fire at a chemical plant in Port Neches on Nov. 27, 2019.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Casey Porter -
Trump EPA eases safety requirements enacted after West explosion
Attorney General Ken Paxton applauded the new rules, saying they would make Texans safer. The Obama-era regulation was meant to improve chemical safety practices and prevent tragedies like the deadly 2013 fertilizer plant explosion in the tiny Central Texas town of West. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/04/18/West-TX-1.jpg)
![A vehicle near the remains of a fertilizer plant burning after an explosion in West, Texas, near Waco.]()
Credit: Mike Stone / Bay Area News -
In key vote, federal regulators OK controversial South Texas gas export facilities
A coalition of residents and indigenous and environmental groups has rallied against a trio of proposed terminals to export liquefied natural gas from the Port of Brownsville. Thursday's vote puts the terminals closer to final approval. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/4d0c3fe2771127595e403be78af0bbf5/Ship_channel_FULL_TT.jpg)
![A vessel from Hong Kong in the Corpus Christi ship channel on June 6, 2018.]()
Credit: Kevin Clancy / Newsy -
Texans say climate change is happening, but it’s a highly partisan issue, UT/TT Poll finds
Most Texas voters say climate change is happening, but there are significant partisan differences, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/9e07f8e77a0a70580ea2820d3e1b6db2/Climate%20UT-TT.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Illustration by Emily Albracht/The Texas Tribune -
Earthquakes in West Texas have dramatically increased, according to new University of Texas study
Every year West Texas experiences more and more small earthquakes. The study by the University of Texas at Austin documented more than 7,000 starting in 2009. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/84fef901d978254bc926ed7dfbbc1553/pumpjack_w_oil_spill_MKC_TT.jpg)
![Pumpjack with oil on the ground in Pecos County near Fort Stockton, Texas.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: Captured by coal, a Legislative Budget Board in turmoil
On this week’s TribCast, Emily talks to Kiah, Edgar, Emma and Cassi about a major Tribune investigation into coal clean-ups in Texas, state leaders’ role in a North Texas child custody case, a mass exodus from the Legislative Budget Board and the latest on the House speaker. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/6732b660d0dae45b49b21ed5468e0a40/TribCast%2010%2030%2019%20MG.jpg)
![The former Thermo Mine facility in Sulphur Springs on Aug. 16, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas signed off on the restoration of this old mine. Now a leaky landfill is contaminating groundwater.
Alcoa has put its shuttered Sandow Mine site on the market for $250 million, advertising it as a country paradise. Testing has found that groundwater under a landfill in the middle of the property is contaminated with toxic heavy metals. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/d07d35a5effcdc2d0b706203cf18092b/12%20Rockdale%20Alcoa%20Mine%20MG%20TT.jpg)
![The Alcoa power plant near Rockdale on August 1, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas coal companies are leaving behind contaminated land. The state is letting them.
An investigation by The Texas Tribune and Grist shows that regulators in the Lone Star State have given a hand up to struggling coal companies as they face millions of dollars in mandated land restoration costs. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f7cf87d060a79489c17e012e97db22cd/13%20Peeler%20Ranch%20San%20Miguel%20Coop%20Coal%20Ash%20MG%20TT.jpg)
![The San Miguel Electric Cooperative power plant can be seen in the background of a sign for the Peeler Ranch on April 26, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Big coal gave a tiny Texas town free land. There’s a major catch.
Sulphur Springs leaders say they want Luminant — Texas’ largest electricity generator — to leave in place a 120-foot-tall mound of excavated dirt at the site of a shuttered coal mine so they can build an amphitheater. But the soil contains potentially dangerous materials, according to state regulators. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/bf2363f96655c7abb7dbd0526227a9d0/lbs_sulfursprings_coal-6.jpg)
![A mound of toxic coal mine waste left by an energy company, Luminant, sits near farmland, homes and businesses in Sulphur Springs.]()
Credit: Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson for The Texas Tribune -
West Texas detention facility enacting water conservation measures after depletion of local water tanks
The Sierra Blanca facility, which houses ICE detainees, shuts down its water supply at 11 p.m. daily to allow its on-site water tanks to replenish overnight. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2d5c8b0e56013c1e542e1991aa03e0c1/West%20Texas%20Detention%20Facility%20TT.jpg)
![West Texas detention facility in Sierra Blanca.]()
Credit: Tom Barry for The Texas Tribune