Tag Archives: TCEQ

Still asking for Zika help

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Following reports of the first local mosquito-borne Zika infections in the U.S., Mayor Sylvester Turner is once again calling on the state of Texas and federal government to provide financial assistance to help fight it. “There are … Continue reading →

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Want to know how close you live to a polluter?

Posted on July 31, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

There’s an app for that. More than two million Texans live within a half-mile of an oil and gas facility, putting them at risk of exposure to toxic fumes, according to a new app released Wednesday by national environmental groups. … Continue reading →

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Hempstead landfill application resubmitted

Posted on July 9, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go again. A Georgia-based company on Wednesday announced it had initiated a new application to build a controversial landfill in Waller County, bringing renewed attention to a project that a citizens group and several county commissioners have actively … Continue reading →

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Hempstead landfill fight still not over

Posted on July 2, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

As with all things, it ain’t over till it’s over. Green Group Holdings recently purchased the 723-acre parcel where the company had planned to build the landfill before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality turned down the project. The move … Continue reading →

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Mayor Turner asks for Zika help

Posted on June 11, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox. With members of the local legislative delegation at his side and an illegal tire dump as the backdrop, Mayor Sylvester Turner called on the state of Texas to declare the Zika virus a public health emergency and … Continue reading →

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Houston’s anti-pollution ordinance killed by Supreme Court

Posted on May 1, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Alas. In passing two ordinances designed to regulate air pollution, the city of Houston overstepped its authority and illegally subverted state law, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday. The ruling is a victory for a coalition of industrial facilities whose … Continue reading →

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Find those leaks

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t care how. A pair of state and federal government inspectors spent two weeks traveling around northern Colorado’s oil and gas fields in early 2012, filming with an infrared camera. Air pollution was rising in the region, and attention … Continue reading →

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Texas files another lawsuit against the EPA

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Haven’t we seen this movie before? In the state’s first lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2016, Texas is suing the agency for rejecting parts of a seven-year-old state proposal to reduce haze in wilderness areas. The EPA … Continue reading →

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Waller County landfill plan appears to be dead

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe. A Waller County commissioner on Wednesday declared victory in a years-long battle against an outside company’s proposal to develop a landfill there. “I am proud to say the landfill is dead,” Commissioner John Amsler said as the regular commissioners … Continue reading →

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Environmentalists petition EPA to strip Texas of some authorities

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

This unfortunately is not likely to go anywhere, but I relish the idea anyway. Alleging that Texas has dramatically eroded its safeguards against air and water pollution, two environmental groups are asking the federal government to step in. The Environmental … Continue reading →

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Yet another lawsuit by Texas against the EPA

Posted on January 9, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

So what else is new? In another lawsuit against the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the state of Texas is taking aim at tightened standards on ground-level ozone — President Obama’s effort to cut down on smog that chokes the nation’s … Continue reading →

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TCEQ rejects application for Hempstead landfill

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Back to the drawing board. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality this week returned a company’s application to construct a landfill in Waller County, calling the application “deficient.” It was the latest blow to plans for the highly controversial project … Continue reading →

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Houston pleads its case to the Supreme Court

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see how they did. “The point of all this is to protect the public and the environment, to have clean air, and the TCEQ, for the Texas Clean Air Act, envisions that it be vigorously enforced,” [Houston attorney Robert] … Continue reading →

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More good news for Hempstead landfill opponents

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

This could be the end of the line for the proposed landfill. Opponents of a proposed landfill in Waller County won another victory in a years-long legal fight to prevent the project. The executive director of the Texas Commission on … Continue reading →

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Houston’s environmental protection ordinances go to the Supreme Court

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Where, sadly, they’ll likely get killed. State environmental regulators don’t adequately enforce air pollution laws, the city of Houston believes, and on Wednesday it will ask the state’s highest civil court to let it keep trying to do the job … Continue reading →

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Hempstead landfill clarification

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I recently blogged about an update to the Hempstead landfill story, in which Green Group Holdings asked to amend its original filings regarding groundwater levels. I received an email on Monday from a Green Group representative, who sent me the … Continue reading →

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Hempstead landfill would indeed hurt the environment

Posted on August 15, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Raise your hand if this surprises you. Pintail Landfill developers backpedaled from arguments that their proposed dump site outside Hempstead would not harm the environment, agreeing for the first time this summer that their review of groundwater under the property … Continue reading →

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Hempstead landfill update

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: After several postponements, the Contested Case Hearing on the proposed Pintail Landfill permit has been set for November 2, 2015, in Austin. Assuming no further delays, the case will be heard by two Administrative Law Judges with … Continue reading →

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Texas sues the EPA again (and again, and again, and…)

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday filed a lawsuit over the agency’s rejection of parts of a Texas clean air program, launching the state’s second battle against EPA regulations in less than … Continue reading →

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Abbott signs pollution enhancement bill

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Still sucks to be us, Harris County. Gov. Greg Abbott has signed legislation that could make it tougher for local governments to sue big-time polluters – an effort that largely targets Harris County prosecutors. House Bill 1794, set to become … Continue reading →

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Local control still under assault

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Sucks to be us, Harris County. With Harris County in its crosshairs, the Senate on Wednesday tentatively approved legislation that could make it tougher for Texas Counties to sue big-time polluters. If finally passed, House Bill 1794 would notch another … Continue reading →

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Waller County approves landfill lawsuit settlement

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Missed this when it first came out. After two fraught years of legal battle, the lawsuit over a proposed Waller County landfill came to a quiet close Friday with a deal that ensures the civil case against the county will … Continue reading →

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Yes, we can cut back on coal

Posted on January 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It won’t be that hard, and it will come with a lot of benefits. Texas burns more coal than any other state in part because of its large and growing population and industrial base. But the carbon-intensive fuel accounted for … Continue reading →

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ERCOT acknowledges that meeting EPA clean air requirements won’t be that big a deal

Posted on December 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From Texas Clean Air Matters: Well, it didn’t take long before the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) released, at the request of Texas’ very political Public Utilities Commission, another report about the impacts of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) … Continue reading →

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Landfill opponents win in Hempstead lawsuit

Posted on December 20, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. A jury on Thursday found that Waller County commissioners met illegally in closed sessions among themselves and with developers of a controversial landfill proposal over more than two years before agreeing to host the project. After a three-week … Continue reading →

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Here come the new ozone standards

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Over the objections of Texas officials, the Obama administration on Wednesday proposed a long-delayed rule to slash levels of ozone – a smog-forming pollutant known to worsen asthma, lung disease and heart … Continue reading →

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“Environmental tort reform”

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, hell no. After failing in their attempt to limit cities and counties’ ability to take industrial polluters to court, some Houston businesses and statewide lobbyists now want to limit how much local governments can collect in penalties, a sort … Continue reading →

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News flash: Greg Abbott wants to sue the EPA again

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Nobody could have foreseen this! Foretelling a new environmental battle between state and federal regulators, Attorney General Greg Abbott on Monday demanded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency back down from a proposal to expand the definition of federal waters to … Continue reading →

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From the “Those that disregard history are doomed to repeat it” department

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This is the state of environment protection in Texas. Texas’ top environmental regulator suggested Thursday that the state may ignore a proposed directive from the Obama administration in June to reduce carbon emissions from power plants. “I’m concerned that if … Continue reading →

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Court rules for the EPA against Texas again

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Another win for the environment. A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the Obama administration’s new rules that for the first time limit emissions of mercury and other harmful pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants. In a split decision, … Continue reading →

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The cost of fighting the inevitable

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Trib headline: Anti-Regulation Politics May Have Hurt Energy Industry. Oh, the irony. Businesses in energy-related industries in Texas say they have been unable to take full advantage of the natural gas boom that is roaring across the state because of … Continue reading →

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EPA and TCEQ settle lawsuits over flex permits

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

One less court fight for us and the feds. The EPA and Texas on Wednesday said they have reached a deal over state permits for industrial air pollution, ending a four-year fight that to some had become a symbol of … Continue reading →

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That pollution isn’t our fault!

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

You have to admire the creativity. Harris County’s problem with tiny, lung-damaging particles in the air can be blamed partly on African dust and crop-clearing fires in Mexico, the state’s environmental agency has told federal regulators. If the Environmental Protection … Continue reading →

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Texas loses another lawsuit against the EPA

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Getting to be a habit. A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a legal challenge by Texas and Wyoming to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals … Continue reading →

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