Air Alliance Houston Reports
New GHASP Report Details Broken Penalty System for Texas Chemical Industry
Houston, TX (October 8) Far too many petrochemical facilities in Texas pay to pollute, according to a new report by the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention (GHASP). The report lists the top 10 worst air violators in the Houston-Galveston region with rankings based on penalties levied by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for 2007. Dow Chemical Company tops the list with ConocoPhillips and Lyondell-Houston rounding out the top three.
The report points out the inadequacies of the TCEQ’s penalty process, and details how the commission regularly fines industry at levels far below the possible, and all too often justified, amount.
Big Breaks for Big Polluters 2008
Why enforcement inconsistencies contribute to ineffective air pollution control.
Scorecards are kept for any number of things, from sporting events to votes cast by elected officials. Such information is useful to determine past behavior and, once a sufficient number of scorecards have been accumulated, detect trends and patterns over time. Previous attempts have been made to build a scorecard for air emissions from the petrochemical industry that is such a major part of the Houston region, economy and history. There is, however, a fundamental problem with building scorecards for industrial air emissions – what data should be
Houston We Have a Problem
A Roadmap for Reducing Petrochemical Industry Toxic Emissions in the Lone Star State - In May 2008, GHASP, along with Industry Professionals for Clean Air (IPCA), Environmental Defense Fund and Environmental Integrity Project, released a major report outlining ways petrochemical facilities could implement technologies and management practices to reduce toxic emissions.
Whiners Matter! Citizen complaints lead to improved regional air quality control
The complaint process often begins with a nose. In 2004, area residents called local agencies on more than 2,000 occasions to complain about offensive odors or other indications of air pollution problems. Although less than 10% of these complaints led directly to enforcement, the data from these citizen alerts is invaluable in identifying trends and problem areas.
