U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Port Arthur Residents Sue Premcor Refining

Raw Deal

Oysterman Joe Nelson says pollution is slowly killing Galveston Bay. But is anyone listening?

New EPA List Of Polluted Cities Leaves Off Houston, To Some Folks' Dismay

The good news is that the Environmental Protection Agency has issued its list of counties that don't meet the agency's standards for fine-particle air pollution, and Harris County is not on that list.The bad news is that the American Lung Association thinks it damn well should be on the list.The EPA ... More >>

The Poison Connection

A "gas leak" in a Matamoros chemical plant wafts a poison and paper cloud toward a corporate office in Houston

Trashing Houston

To a world worried about waste, Houston may offer an answer -- or at least a place for the garbage to go

The Battle for Lavaca Bay

Diane Wilson asked only that her home bay be allowed to live. She says she was told no. So she went to war.

Clunkers R Us

Sell your jalopy, help an industry breathe easier

Letters

Sell your jalopy, help an industry breathe easier

Smoke and Mirrors (and more smoke)

It's called "Motorist's Choice." But the new emissions testing program for Houston may not offer much of a choice after all. And it won't do much for cleaning the city's air, either.

Enviro Cop

Stephen Dicker chases Houston's dirtiest criminals

BP Pays Big (Kinda) To Settle Texas City Pollution Claims

Logo courtesy BPGood news and bad news for Texas City: The good news is that BP will be spending $167 million to reduce pollution in its plant there.The bad news is that they were polluting the area so bad it's going to take $167 million to do something about it.The Environmental Protection Agency a ... More >>

Houston Actually Does Well On An EPA List

Oh, crap. The Environmental Protection Agency has put out another list.This can't be good for Houston.But.....it is?Yes, apparently so: Houston is the top city in Texas -- and the third in the entire country, behind two frou-frou California cities -- when it comes to the number of "green" buildings. ... More >>

Abatement by Any Other Name...

A Heights mother tries to get the lead out

Looking for Answers Down Below

The city doesn't seem to care that a Houston developer's plans for high-density apartments and a supermarket rest atop abandoned oil fields and possible contamination

Blowing Smoke

Government and civic boosters know the way to clean up the air in polluted southeast communities: add another chemical plant

Toxic Town: Contamination in Somerville Schools

Somerville's schools continue to show elevated toxins, but are the health risks bad enough to shut down the schools?

The Sky's the Limit

Stop wheezing and cheer up. A front group finds a bright spin on our brown air.

A Mighty Wind

A mountain of garbage in northeast Houston is looking to get bigger. Neighbors cry foul.

Got a Light?

All kidding aside, why smoking may be good for Houston

Letters

All kidding aside, why smoking may be good for Houston

Letters

All kidding aside, why smoking may be good for Houston

Wretched Excess

Sludge, spread across the land, makes some people vomit and others very rich

Under The Volcano

Crown Central Petroleum spews, sputters and flares up. Neighbors of the plant view it uneasily, never quite sure when it's going to blow.

Fish Tales

Rayburn's bass diminish as debates continue over pollution discharges

A Yenne for Your Thoughts

Brazoria's D.A. raises privacy issues over DPS emissions tests

We're No. 1!

Houston seems destined to remain the country's biggest stink hole

Paradise Lost

Milby's cleanup cost Houston $10 million. Now HCC says the site is still contaminated.

The Exterminator

Tom DeLay, the bug man from Sugar Land, has always despised environmental regulation. Now, as House majority whip, he's in a position to do something about it.

An Update On Just How Safe Your Tap Water Is (Or Isn't)

Illustration courtesy drinktap.org​A little more than a year ago, the Houston Press brought you a story about a growing movement aimed at ditching those store-bought plastic bottles of water for the stuff that flows from the tap. After all, advocates claimed, tap water is safe, cheap and environm ... More >>

Houston's Waterways Are Filled With All Kinds Of Stuff They Shouldn't Be Filled With, Group Says

​Stay the hell away from Houston's waterways. Don't swim in them and for heaven's sake don't eat the fish.That was essentially the message this morning at a news conference held alongside the Houston Ship Channel, hosted by Environment Texas, an environmental advocacy group, which complied data fr ... More >>

A Quiet Hell: Game Time

Flexible permits offer a loophole big enough to drive an oil tanker through.

A Quiet Hell

Thanks to lax enforcement by TCEQ, plants along the Houston Ship Channel launch tons of toxic gases into our air, and face little penalty even when they exceed pollution limits over and over again.

Obama's EPA Accused Of "Castrating" Clean Air Act In Houston

​Clean-air advocates in Texas had such high hopes for the EPA under the Obama administration. After all, the federal environmental agency has said that, as early as today, it will significantly lower the national ozone limit and has essentially stated that some of Texas' pro-business industrial pe ... More >>

The EPA: "Castrating," Maybe, But Also Getting Tougher

​The EPA may giveth, but it can also taketh away -- the agency is toughening guidelines in the fight against smog pollution, lowering the national ozone limit for the eight-hour standard.A federal Environmental Protection Agency spokesman says the agency will announce today that it is lowering the ... More >>

More Bad Benzene Numbers, And They're Probably Worse Than They Sound

​Oil and gas make the world go 'round, but refining the stuff can be deadly business. And according to a new report, the cancer-causing chemical known as benzene is on the rise.Earlier today, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project released a study showing that benzene ... More >>

The EPA Might Actually Listen To People At Today's Hearing On Ozone Levels

​The Environmental Protection Agency is in the midst of deciding exactly how low it is going to decrease the national smog pollution limit, otherwise known as ozone, and clean-air advocates want you to do your part to help ensure a cleaner, healthier Houston.All day today, the EPA is hosting a pub ... More >>

Houston Scores Big In Fed's List Of Cities With Energy-Efficient Buildings

​Houston's air may be a national joke, but we do score the occasional surprise good showing in environmental matters.The Environmental Protection Agency today put out its list of the Top 25 cities with the highest number of energy-efficient buildings, and Houston came in a solid sixth.The EPA coun ... More >>

Blowing Smoke

Could Valero empty the coffers of Texas schools?

Feds To Texas' Environmental Regulators: Good God, You Suck (UPDATED With Rick Perry Saying No, You Suck)

Feds come to the same conclusion we did​The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency smacked the hell out of Texas environmental regulators earlier this week, announcing that the feds will begin taking control over the issuance of operating permits to chemical plants and refineries because the s ... More >>

Rick Perry To EPA: Stop. Sierra Club To EPA: Hurry The Eff Up

The Environmental Protection Agency is getting hit from both ends for its actions in Texas.The EPA has threatened to take over the permitting process from the Texas Commissin on Environmental Quality if the TCEQ doesn't get tougher on polluters.Governor Rick Perry was in Deer Park yesterday, once a ... More >>

Rep. Pete Olson, Standing Up Against Those Pesky Pollution Rules

Texas can police its own air, thankyouverymuch.​Republican U.S. Congressman Pete Olson may not officially be the poster boy for the oil and gas industry, but one could argue that he's really bucking for the job. Last week, Olson of Sugar Land announced that he and a few other politicians on Capit ... More >>

Greg Abbott Sues Obama Administration Over Clean-Air Rules

Dumb bureaucrats........​The Texas regulations on clean air, such as they are, have done a marvelous job for years, and we don't need the feds messing with our pristine environment, Texas attorney general Greg Abbott said today in a suit filed against the Obama administration.Texas' (notorious) Fl ... More >>

TCEQ & The EPA: Feds Again Slam Texas' Pollution-Control Efforts

TCEQ: Honeymoon with the feds is definitely over​The EPA took yet another bite out of the Texas air-pollution regulatory system on Tuesday when it decreed that some of state's rules violate federal clean air law.At issue is what's called the New Source Review Program. It deals with the permitting ... More >>

EPA Gives Houston Big Grant To Boost Electric Cars And (Non-Electric) Bikes

Dollars for clean-air initiatives​The Environmental Protection Agency has just announced it's giving a $423,000 grant to Houston to help the city boost its electric-car program.The city already has about two dozen charging stations downtown for the vehicles, and now can add more and also improve b ... More >>

Beauty School Dropouts

HISD might close cosmetology program.

TCEQ Gets Slammed: Feds Take Powers Away From Texas' Air-Pollution "Watchdog"

TCEQ step aside, feds say​Is an agency a "watchdog" when it doesn't watch? Apparently the feds don't think so. In a bold move today, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it was taking over the job of issuing greenhouse-gas permits in Texas because the Texas Council on Environmental ... More >>

Texas To EPA: Keep Your Hands Off Our Rubber Stamp!!

Texas goes to court​As expected, Texas state officials are not just going to roll over and accept the Obama administration's taking away their right to rubber-stamp every application to let companies pour greenhouses gases into the air. Texas AG Greg Abbott went to court today, filing a petit ... More >>

Texas AG Greg Abbott Grabs The Spotlight In Fight Against EPA's Tailpipe-Emissions Rule

Greg Abbott leads a mostly southern uprising​Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott wants everyone to know that he is doing everything he can to stop the federal Environmental Protection Agency from trying to implement greenhouse-gas limits on cars and trucks. In the latest of a series of lawsuit ... More >>

EPA Hits Texas, Other States With Tougher Air Pollution Regulations: Cue Outrage From Rick Perry, Greg Abbott

Feds up the ante in battle against TCEQ, Perry​The Environmental Protection Agency announced stricter rules on air pollution, rules that will especially affect Texas, whose politicians have been fighting tenaciously to avoid federal regulation of the state's many pollution producers. The EPA ... More >>

Good Air Pollution News in Texas? "Flexible Permit" Companies Agree to EPA Guidelines

Breath of fresh air​It's a rarity: Good air-pollution news in Texas that doesn't involve the Obama administration forcing state officials to do their job. The Environmental Protection Agency announced today that 156 Texas companies who have received the notoriously loose "flexible" permits ha ... More >>