Expuestos y en el olvido: El aire tรณxico en una comunidad latina de Texas revela los fallos del sistema estatal de control de calidad del aire
Los datos pรบblicos de una red de monitores de la calidad del aire alrededor del Canal de Navegaciรณn de Houston son difรญciles de interpretar y a menudo son insuficientes, dejando a vecindarios de mayorรญa latina, como Cloverleaf, sin saber si el aire que respiran es seguro.
Neglected and exposed: Toxic air lingers in a Texas Latino community, revealing failures in stateโs air monitoring system
Public data from a network of state air monitors around the Houston Ship Channel is hard to interpret and is often inadequate, leaving Latino-majority neighborhoods like Cloverleaf unaware of whether the air they breathe is safe.
Federal court overturns Texas agencyโs pollution permit for Gulf Coast natural gas export terminal
Judges overturned a state air pollution permit that was issued last year, arguing that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality illegally enabled Port Arthur LNG to avoid emissions control requirements.
Oilfield companies helped to craft Texasโ new waste rules for 2 years before the public got to see them
The effort to update the stateโs oilfield waste disposal rules was initiated by Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright, one of the stateโs top oil and gas regulators who has investments in the industry.
EPAโs inspector general says agency isnโt enforcing benzene pollution rules at refineries in Texas, nationally
A report by the federal environmental agencyโs internal watchdog found that EPA is failing to enforce its own pollution limits for the known carcinogen at many refineries โ including some in Texas.
Family legacies and the stateโs Jim Crow past underlie a fight over mineral rights on a stretch of South Texas scrubland
Descendants of a prominent white family and a formerly enslaved couple are fighting over ownership โ and the oil and gas royalties that would come with it โ of an 147.5-acre tract that has bound and divided generations of their families.
Texasโ environmental agency enables companies to increase oilfield wastewater disposal in rivers
Researchers are still studying the chemical makeup of โproduced waterโ from Permian Basin oil fields. But regulators say theyโre ready to issue permits to discharge the water into rivers and creeks.
For Texans, fighting state-regulated oilfield waste dumps can be a costly, do-it-yourself effort
Some Texans who challenge oil and gas waste sites must spend significant sums and time on investigating what they say the Texas Railroad Commission should examine. Will new regulations for handling waste increase oversight or just maintain the status quo?
Texas Republicans want to shield oil and gas from federal climate regulations. Their bill would have little impact, experts say.
The bill would direct Texas agencies to not enforce federal regulations on the oil industry if thereโs not a similar state regulation. But it likely wouldnโt apply to most federal environmental rules, experts and lawmakers said.
Texas House moves to crack down on polluters with stricter penalties and heavier oversight
The bill would require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to focus enforcement and increase penalties on repeat violators and increase public outreach. Still, environmental advocates say the effort was too โmodestโ in its reach.
Thousands of pounds of โforever chemicalsโ have been injected into Texas oil and gas wells, study finds
A new report from a public health watchdog found that more than 40,000 pounds of PFAS has been injected into more than 1,000 wells across Texas โ and warned that the chemicals could pose a risk to public health
In East Texas, a town fights to keep an oilfield waste dump from opening near wetlands and water wells
The Texas Railroad Commission has rejected the proposal twice over water contamination concerns, but locals are dismayed that the commissioners keep giving the developer more chances to alter its application.
Texas environmentalists push the EPA to crack down on methane emissions, saying state agencies have โfailed usโ
Commenting on the EPAโs proposed new rule to reduce methane leaks nationally, environmentalists said Texas regulators are hesitant to address emissions of the climate super-pollutant.
GOP lawmakers accuse investment firms of breaking a law that prohibits divesting from oil and gas
At a senate committee hearing in Marshall, Texas Republican lawmakers accused investment firms of pulling back on fossil fuels, running afoul of a 2021 law that prohibits the state from contracting with or investing in companies that โboycottโ oil, natural gas and coal companies.
Texas oil and gas agency investigating 5.4 magnitude earthquake in West Texas, the largest in three decades
The quake was the third largest in Texas history, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. An increase in seismic activity in Texas has been linked to injecting fracking wastewater underground.
Corpus Christi sold its water to Exxon, gambling on desalination. So far, it is losing the bet.
Concerns over ecological damage to Corpus Christi Bay have delayed plans to convert sea water to drinking water for years in this booming Gulf Coast city, where environmentalists see water supply as a โchokeholdโ to block new fossil fuel infrastructure.
EPA reverses course, rejects permit for massive oil exporting project offshore from Corpus Christi
During the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency exempted a proposed oil export terminal off the Texas coast from air pollution requirements. This week it rejected the permit because of pollution concerns.
Analysis: A power test for Texas voters
After last winterโs near-statewide electric blackouts, Texas lawmakers went after regulators they deemed responsible but tiptoed around the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas. Now voters have a chance, if they want it, to send the state a message.
400,000 Texas homes and businesses could lose power over financial dispute between energy companies
Vistra Corp. asked the Railroad Commission of Texas to prevent Energy Transfer LP from cutting off fuel to five of its power plants on Monday. Vistra said the power supply to at least 400,000 homes and businesses could be impacted.
Texas regulators pass rule aimed at preventing natural gas producers from having power cut off during future winter storms
But Texas oil and gas regulators addressed only part of the problem that led millions of Texans to lose power for days after Februaryโs winter storm, and gas producers likely wonโt be required to weatherize until 2023.
The Karankawa were said to be extinct. Now theyโre reviving their culture โ and fighting to protect their ancestorsโ land.
Historians long thought the Karankawa people had disappeared. But now a group of descendants is fighting to protect a coastal area โ where thousands of Karankawa artifacts were found โ from an encroaching oil export facility.