Dirtying the Waters: Texas Ranks 1st in Violating Water Pollution Rules

"A new report raises questions about whether TCEQ is doing enough to protect the state’s water."

"Texas has a dirty secret. Its industries are routinely violating environmental laws by dumping excess chemicals and human waste into its rivers and bays, often without consequence. At least that’s the finding of a new report by Environment Texas, which shows almost half of Texas’ major industrial facilities violated their wastewater permit by pumping excrement, oil, grease and a range of other chemicals into the state’s waterways. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) lax enforcement of air pollution standards is already well documented, but the new analysis raises questions about whether TCEQ is doing enough to protect the state’s water.

For instance, between January 2016 and September 2017, Ineos USA’s facility in Brazoria County violated their permit to dump wastewater into Chocolate Bayou eight times. In all cases, the company released waste with high levels of E. coli, a bacteria that indicates the presence of feces. The facility has been out of compliance with the Clean Water Act a total of 12 months out of the last three years. TCEQ hasn’t fined the facility once."

Naveena Sadasivam reports for the Texas Observer March 15, 2018.