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In this issue: Lawsuit Focuses On Reliant Water Pollution Pacific Seafood Bound By 5-year Consent Decree BDA Brings Pollution Controls Into 21st Century “Off-The-Books” Pollution Threatens Gulf Coast Air Quality; NELC Provides International Guidance NELC Appeals Clean Water Act Exemption For Aquatic Pesticides |
“Off-The-Books” Pollution Threatens Gulf Coast Air Quality
Allendale, TX—According to a study conducted by the Houston Chronicle in 2005, many residents of Houston are exposed to enough hazardous air pollutants to cause a 400-fold increase in their risk of contracting cancer. The highest concentrations of butadiene, a carcinogenic air pollutant, were documented in Allendale, a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood of Houston that is home to industrial facilities owned by Texas Petrochemical and Goodyear. But Allendale is just one of many communities plagued by dangerously high levels of toxic and carcinogenic air pollutants along the Gulf Coast of Texas, one of the nation’s air pollution “hot spots.” Why aren’t these air quality problems being addressed? A major enforcement loophole enabled industrial facilities to release thousands of tons of air pollutants each year beyond the amounts allowed by their Clean Air Act permits. This loophole has helped make national air quality standards, established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), unattainable in numerous metropolitan areas. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), with oversight from EPA, issues permits designed to ensure that the total amount of air pollutants released in an area does not create violations of national ambient air quality standards. TCEQ’s permitting scheme, however, often falls short of this objective because of the Commission’s failure to enforce permit limits and hold companies accountable for rampant “upset” emissions. “Upsets” are defined under Texas law as “unplanned and unavoidable breakdowns” at industrial facilities that result in unauthorized releases of pollutants into the atmosphere. If a company claimed that emissions from an upset event could not have been foreseen or prevented, TCEQ typically did not fine it for the upset emissions. BASF is one of hundreds of facilities along the Gulf Coast of Texas that has exploited this loophole. According to the Environmental Integrity Project, upsets at the BASF facility in Port Arthur resulted in the release of 174,665 pounds of two carcinogenic air pollutants during 2003, making the plant the sixth-largest emitter of butadiene and the twelfth-largest emitter of benzene in the country. Although EPA and TCEQ have both taken recent steps to address the problem of hazardous upset emissions at large petrochemical facilities, much work remains to be done. NELC staff have been working with Environment Texas and Sierra Club to document the extent of illegal upset emissions from facilities along the Gulf Coast. We are investigating ways in which citizens can either pressure the agencies to enforce applicable rules and permits, or take legal action themselves against specific polluters. NELC Provides International Guidance |
National Environmental Law Center Report is the report of the National Environmental Law Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and litigation organization working to stop polluters through legal action and pollution prevention policies. Director of Litigation: Litigation Staff:
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