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Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: February 27, 2019

House Democrats examining EPA enforcement dropoff

(James Osborne – Houston Chronicle, Updated 02/26/2019. Photo by Alex Edelman)

House Democrats are investigating a dramatic drop off in enforcement action at the EPA under former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt and Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler during the Trump administration, as the president seeks to reduce regulations and build American industry. Among the non-actions under scrutiny is a near 500,000 gallon gasoline spill at Magellan Midstream Partners’ terminal on the Houston Ship Channel during Hurricane Harvey. houstonchronicle.com

Possible delay on Project Brays bridges worries residents

(Zach Despart and Mike Morris – Houston Chronicle, Updated 02/25/2019. Photo by Steve Gonzales)

“New potential delays on a $480 million flood protection project along Brays Bayou that already has proceeded haphazardly for nearly a quarter-century have strained the relationship between the Harris County Flood Control District and the watershed’s residents, many of whom live deep inside the floodplain. The hold-up on the replacement of three bridges over the bayou, prompted by the discovery of utility lines in two of the spans, is just the latest reminder of the disconnect between the urgency residents feel about flood mitigation projects after Hurricane Harvey and the laggard pace of the region’s recovery from the storm.” houstonchronicle.com

Hurricane Harvey survey: 46 percent say they were displaced by historic storm

(Alex Hosey – Community Impact Newspaper, Updated 02/21/2019. Photo by Alex Hosey)

“Almost half of over 13,500 survey respondents had to leave their homes and were displaced for an average of 20 weeks as a result of Hurricane Harvey, according to initial results of the Hurricane Harvey Registry shared to the public on Feb. 21. Mayor Sylvester Turner released the first public report of the Hurricane Harvey Registry, a collection of surveys completed by the people of Houston to detail the amount of environmental exposure and health effects received as a result of the event, at Houston City Hall on Thursday.” communityimpact.com

EcoNotes

  • 25 February
    • French experts propose trillion-euro EU climate finance pact (Natalie Sauer – Climate Home News) climatechangenews.com
    • Greener Childhood Associated With Happier Adulthood (Jonathan Lambert – Texas Public Radio) tpr.org
  • 21 February
    • UN Secretary-General appoints Inger Andersen of Denmark as Executive Director of the UN Environment (United Nations Environment Programme) unenvironment.org
    • World’s largest bee, missing for 38 years, found alive in Indonesia (Patrick Barkham – The Guardian) theguardian.com
    • Texas A&M Galveston researchers find rare crustacean that outlived the dinosaurs (Marcy de Luna – Houston Chronicle) houstonchronicle.com
  • 16 February
    • Global Warming Is Helping to Wipe Out Coffee in the Wild (Somini Sengupta – The New York Times) nytimes.com
  • 12 February
    • Snakes are slithering in Houston thanks to warmer temps (Marcy de Luna – Houston Chronicle) chron.com
  • 8 February
    • Judge’s ruling preserves golden-cheeked warbler protections near San Antonio (Sig Christenson – San Antonio Express-News) expressnews.com