Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: May 20, 2014
Featured
- Hershey/Salzhandler: Invasive erosion control plan could destroy Buffalo Bayou (Olive Hershey and Frank Salzhandler – Houston Chronicle, 5/16/2014)
A Harris County plan to alter Buffalo Bayou as it runs through our publicly owned Memorial Park would destroy one of the last remaining river forests in Houston, an ecologically important riparian wilderness that cannot be replaced. The county intends to bulldoze both sides of the bayou – up to 100 feet from the water’s edge in places and including a tributary in the Hogg Bird Sanctuary – stripping wide swathes of native trees, vines and undergrowth from the bayou’s natural sandy banks. Vital habitat for hundreds of species of birds, animals and water creatures will be lost. The slow-moving bayou’s shady banks will be denuded and replanted as a sun-baked lawn. This expensive, invasive plan is called the Memorial Park Demonstration Project, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now considering whether to issue a permit for it. The threat in Memorial Park is only the beginning. The Harris County Flood Control District calls the plan a “demonstration project” because the county intends to use this disputed, heavy-handed method on the natural landscape of Buffalo Bayou in neighborhoods upstream.
www.chron.com - EPA tightens decades-old refinery pollution rules (Mathew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle, 5/15/2014)
Joshua Martinez flies a kite Thursday in his aunt’s yard on East Avenue P across from the Valero Houston Refinery. Revised federal environmental rules aim to clear the air the 6-year-old’s kite soars through. Photo by Melissa Phillip, Chronicle staff. New federal rules would force oil refiners to adopt more aggressive measures for reducing hazardous air pollution, including the first mandatory monitoring of their fence lines for cancer-causing benzene. The Environmental Protection Agency’s move Thursday to revamp the nearly 20-year-old rules comes after residents from Houston, Port Arthur and other cities complained about toxic emissions from nearby refineries. The sweeping proposal introduces a requirement that refiners measure benzene levels at their perimeter and provide the information in real time to the public. The rules also call for limits on releases of the harmful chemical that drift over the fence line and into neighborhoods.
www.houstonchronicle.com - Monarch Institute unveils first Living Building in Texas (Rusty Graham – Your Houston News, 5/9/2014)
The Monarch Institute for Neurological Differences celebrated Earth Day on April 22 by unveiling the first certified Living Building to be constructed in Texas. The 1,120-square foot studio classroom has been built to the exacting standards of the Living Building Challenge, which has only certified five buildings in the world. The classroom will serve as an outdoor living classroom in which students’ day-to-day interactive decision-making will help the building achieve net zero energy and water performance.
www.yourhoustonnews.com
EcoNotes
- 16 May
- Hershey/Salzhandler: Invasive erosion control plan could destroy Buffalo Bayou (Olive Hershey and Frank Salzhandler – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Energy’s ‘second boom’ adding jobs in Houston (Jordan Blum – Houston Business Journal)
www.bizjournals.com - West Texas Seeing ‘Driest Such Period in Over a Century’ (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org
- Hershey/Salzhandler: Invasive erosion control plan could destroy Buffalo Bayou (Olive Hershey and Frank Salzhandler – Houston Chronicle)
- 15 May
- EPA tightens decades-old refinery pollution rules (Mathew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Environment Texas Welcomes EPA Proposal to Cut Refinery Pollution (Environment Texas)
www.environmenttexas.org - Deal Sets Plan for Texas’ Largest Single Solar Facility (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Landowner Incentives Available in the Pedernales River Watershed to Help Conserve State Fish of Texas (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
www.tpwd.state.tx.us - Austin Energy OKs Deal For Texas’ Single Biggest Solar Farm (Veronica Zaragovia – KUT News)
http://kut.org - Infrastructure Week Highlights Transportation Funding Concerns In Texas (Gail Delaughter – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Plug-In Rebates Finally Come to Texas, But Not For Tesla (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - TCEQ Chairman Bryan W. Shaw appointed by EPA to Border Environmental Committee
www.tceq.state.tx.us
- EPA tightens decades-old refinery pollution rules (Mathew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
- 14 May
- Texas launches $2,500 incentive for CNG, electric vehicles (Ryan Holeywall – Fuel Fix)
http://fuelfix.com - State offers up to $2,500 back for buying an alternative-fuel vehicle (Ryan Holeywell – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - No Joke: Most Drinking Supplies Flush With “Potty Water” (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Environmentalists sue to list bumble bee as endangered (Mica Rosenberg – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Texas Judge Gives No Restitution to Citgo’s Victims in Pollution Case With Wide Implications (Priscila Mosqueda – Inside Climate News)
http://insideclimatenews.org - Arts in the Parks Program Frames the Beauty of Texas State Parks (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
www.tpwd.state.tx.us - TCEQ approves fines totaling $566,484 (TCEQ New)
www.tceq.state.tx.us - With Little Difference on Policy, GOP Railroad Commission Race Gets Personal (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Federal Waters off Texas Closed to Shrimping on May 15, 2014Â (The Fish Site)
www.thefishsite.com - NOAA Fisheries Announces the Revised 2014 Red Snapper Recreational Season in the Gulf of Mexico (Southeast Fishery Bulletin)
http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov
- Texas launches $2,500 incentive for CNG, electric vehicles (Ryan Holeywall – Fuel Fix)
- 13 May
- Houston’s Environmental Justice “Encuentro†to Chart Path Forward for Communities (EDF Staff – Texas Clean Air Matters)
http://blogs.edf.org - Dozens of Texas communities with less than 90 days of water (Joe Conger – KVUE News)
www.kvue.com - HARC’s Powered by Natural Gas Initiative: Research aimed at helping lower emissions (HARC News)
www.harcresearch.org - Air emissions from oil and gas activities: A multi-faceted issue (HARC News)
www.harcresearch.org - Round 2 of Reuse Water Tests Starting This Week (Texomas News)
www.texomashomepage.com - Man-Made Quakes Get a Hearing at Texas Legislature (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Trickle Down: Counties Say Oil Money for Roads Not Enough (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - NASA: Antarctic ice melt irreversible (Laura Barron-Lopez – The Hill)
http://thehill.com - Perry lobbies against EPA’s expansion of Clean Water Act (Candy Woodalll – York Dispatch)
www.yorkdispatch.com - EPA’s Carbon Limits for New Power Plants Must Be ‘Grounded in Reality,’ Industry Says (Andrea Vittorio – Bloomberg BNA)
www.bna.com
- Houston’s Environmental Justice “Encuentro†to Chart Path Forward for Communities (EDF Staff – Texas Clean Air Matters)
- 12 May
- One Year Later: Texas Environmental Agency Fails to Address Public Comments on Pollution in Texas City (Elena Craft, Ph.D.- Texas Clean Air Matters)
http://blogs.edf.org - Lawmakers Again Consider Overhauling How Pollution Permits Are Fought (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Here Are 9 Studies Linking Quakes and Drilling Activity in Texas (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - It’s Aggie vs. Aggie on the Science of Climate Change (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Can the Texas Solar Market Live Up to Its Potential? (Bentham Paulos – Green Tech Solar)
www.greentechmedia.com - Water utility seeks water sources beyond horizon (Asher Price – The Washington Times)
www.washingtontimes.com
- One Year Later: Texas Environmental Agency Fails to Address Public Comments on Pollution in Texas City (Elena Craft, Ph.D.- Texas Clean Air Matters)
- 10 May
- Casey: Emissions studies matter to state, as long as data fits with policy (Rick Casey – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Largely invisible tank cleaning industry awash in risk (Ingrid Lobet – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com
- Casey: Emissions studies matter to state, as long as data fits with policy (Rick Casey – Houston Chronicle)
- 9 May
- Monarch Institute unveils first Living Building in Texas (Rusty Graham – Your Houston News)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Report questions Texas’ water needs (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - In the Garden with Urban Harvest: Don’t sweat the idea of summer-fruit gardening (Bob Randall, Ph.D. – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Author Tim Gallagher shares his falconing adventures (Gary Clark – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Report questions Texas’ water needs (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - TCEQ: Rio Grande water ‘safe’; test results show no abnormalities (Ty Johnson, The Brownsville Herald – The Monitor)
www.themonitor.com
- Monarch Institute unveils first Living Building in Texas (Rusty Graham – Your Houston News)
- 8 May
- Residents eager for Jaycee Park improvements (Flori Meeks – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Texas Electric-Car Purchase Rebates Up To $2,500 To Start Soon (Stephen Edelstein – Green Car Reports)
www.greencarreports.com - City addresses groundwater contamination concerns in Timbergrove (Michael Sudhalter – The Leader)
www.theleadernews.com - Dead bats under the Watonga Street Bridge have area residents concerned (Betsy Denson – The Leader)
www.theleadernews.com - Despite rain, Houston back in a drought (Eric Berger – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Fleming, Williamson: Beautification efforts can bring more business to Houston (Ronald Lee Fleming and Claudia Williamson – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com
- Residents eager for Jaycee Park improvements (Flori Meeks – Houston Chronicle)
- 7 May
- NASF Challenge of EPA’s Chromium Electroplating Air Emissions Rule (NASF News)
www.nasf.org - Obama climate rules can’t wait until after election (Josh Lederman, Associated Press – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - King: Keeping roads clear can ease traffic congestion (Bill King – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com
- NASF Challenge of EPA’s Chromium Electroplating Air Emissions Rule (NASF News)
- 30 April
- What Would It Take for You to Care About Smog? (Catherine Matusow – Houstonia)
www.houstoniamag.com - Colonial Waterbird Monitoring (Andrea Sanchez – Gulf Coast Bird Observatory)
http://gulfcoastbirdobservatory.wordpress.com
- What Would It Take for You to Care About Smog? (Catherine Matusow – Houstonia)
- 25 April
- Ryan appoints Julie Countiss Assistant County Attorney (The Pasadena Citizen)
www.yourhoustonnews.com
- Ryan appoints Julie Countiss Assistant County Attorney (The Pasadena Citizen)
- 23 April
- Texas A&M, Baylor College of Medicine, University of Houston teaming up to build environmental health center (Jordan Overturf – The Eagle)
www.theeagle.com
- Texas A&M, Baylor College of Medicine, University of Houston teaming up to build environmental health center (Jordan Overturf – The Eagle)