(Erin Douglas – Houston Chronicle, Updated 02/12/2019. Photo by Kin Man Hui)
“The Houston metro area has the second most unauthorized air pollution in the state, analysis of reports filed by companies to state regulators by the Texas Environment Research & Policy Center, an environmental policy nonprofit, found. Over 9 million pounds of unauthorized emissions were released in Houston in 2017, second to Midland, where Texas’ booming oil field, the Permian Basin, is located.”
chron.com

(R.A. Schuetz and Massarah Mikati – Houston Chronicle, Updated 02/11/2019. Photo by Melissa Phillip)
Environmental organizations are raising an alarm over the potential health impacts of chemicals spilled Feb. 3 into Sims Bayou near Hobby Airport when an estimated 64,000 gallons of jet fuel escaped from a Southwest Airlines-owned fuel storage facility. Amy Sullivan, who has been monitoring the water quality in Sims Bayou for six years with the water monitoring network Texas Stream Team, said she was flabbergasted Thursday when she went to sample the bayou, as a pearly film marbled the water’s surface, and the overpowering stench of fuel permeated the air. chron.com

(Andrew Sansom and Anna Huff – Houston Chronicle, 02/11/2019. Photo by Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images)
“Texas is one of the fastest growing states in the country. But a downside of this growth is that, coupled with extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, many of our existing water resources are becoming overburdened…The answer lies in changing our attitudes and behavior so that, when we do use water, we use it more wisely.”
houstonchronicle.com