Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: October 17, 2017

Featured Articles:

1. The river is a monster’ Brazos River takes homes, roads, bridges in ever-changing paths  (Emily Foxhall – Houston Chronicle, 10/08/17. Photo by Mark Mulligan – Houston Chronicle.)  Swollen by torrential rains, the Brazos threatened hundreds of homes — even whole towns and subdivisions — in Fort Bend and Brazoria counties, changing its path once again…. A house that had teetered on the river’s edge fell partially over the bank. Massive trees slipped down the cliffs. Bridges, roadways and rail lines took yet another beating. Harvey added at least another $1 million to the $20 million or more in repairs already designated to protect the local infrastructure. http://www.houstonchronicle.com
2. Houston’s Curbside Recycling Could Resume in November, Turner Says (Joseph Fanelli – Houston Press, 10/12/2017. Photo from Mayor Sylvester Turner Facebook page.)
   “With more than 1 million cubic yards of debris picked up from Hurricane Harvey, Houston Solid Waste Management is eyeing November to resume curbside recycling pickup in the city, Mayor Sylvester Turner said at a press conference on Wednesday.” http://www.houstonpress.com
3. Environmental groups denounce Trump override of climate plan (Michael Biesecker and Adam Beam- Associated Press)                                                      “A coalition of left-leaning states and environmental groups are vowing to fight the Trump administration’s move to kill an Obama-era effort to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.Speaking Monday in the coal-mining state of Kentucky, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said he would be issuing a new set of rules overriding the Clean Power Plan, the centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s drive to curb global climate change. “The war on coal is over,” Pruitt declared….” http://www.houstonchronicle.com

EcoNotes

• 11 October
  • Judge allows Dakota Access pipeline to keep running (Blake Nicholson- Houston Chronicle) http://www.chron.com
  • EPA approves plan to remove San Jacinto Waste pits from river (Lise Olsen- Houston Chronicle) http://www.chron.com
• 9 October
  • ‘The war on coal is over’: EPA boss to roll back Obama’s clean power rules (Associated Press in Hazard, Kentucky- The Guardian) https://www.theguardian.com
• 29 September
  • EPA Says Toxic Waste Exposed at Flooded Houston-area Superfund Site (Travis Bubenik- Houston Public Media) https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org