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May 15, 2016

Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: May 15, 2015

  1. Silent and Deadly: Benzene Leaks From Pipelines Have Been Quietly Adding to the Ship Channel Toxic Mix (Dianna Wray – Houston Press, 5/10/2016)
    Photo by Daniel Kramer

    “Midway through his presentation, about just-discovered potentially dangerous levels of benzene in their neighborhoods, Jay Olaguer saw the blank looks on the faces in the audience and realized they weren’t getting it. Olaguer, the air-quality science program director at the Houston Advanced Research Center, had spent years getting to this point in February 2015. He finally had the funding to conduct his research projects using everything from CT scans to human lung cells in order to measure the levels of benzene and other toxic emissions found in Manchester and Galena Park. ”
    www.houstonpress.com

  2. A sacred space under a rare hill (Lisa Gray – Houston Chronicle, 5/7/2016)
    “In early summer of 2010, nobody thought much about the artificial hill where, every year, the city of Houston launched Fourth of July fireworks. Next to Jamail Skatepark, the hill lay inside a strip of land that Buffalo Bayou Partnership was preparing to buy and transform into a park. Hills being rare in Houston, the partnership’s consultants thought they might be able to put this one to good use – maybe as the site of the park’s concert hall, which would then have a stunning, up-close view of downtown. And maybe, they thought, the park could find a use for the enormous underground space that they knew must exist beneath the hill. It had been a drinking-water reservoir, built in 1926, a space as large as one and a half football fields. Now the city was taking bids to demolish the leaky old thing, to remove its concrete and fill it with dirt.”
    www.houstonchronicle.com
  3. What will we do when the emergency is real? (Brian Butler – airCurrent News, 5/11/2016)
    “‘This is a test of the emergency broadcast system. This is only a test.’ This annoying message may interrupt you while watching TV or listening to the radio. But what if it interrupted dinner with your family? Or your sleep? For some in Houston, it does. Emergency notifications aren’t just for PBS. If you live near one of Houston’s hundreds of petrochemical facilities, you face the very real threat of an explosion or hazardous chemical release. With these potential public health disasters looming, safeguards are required. Sirens and loudspeakers are prepared to warn residents and provide instructions in case of emergency. Tests of those systems are routine, even expected. Such is life in Houston’s fenceline communities. But what happens when disaster actually strikes? Do emergency notification systems work? Lately in Houston, they have not. Several incidents this year have shown weaknesses in our emergency alert systems. Our communities deserve better.”
    http://airalliancehouston.org

EcoNotes

  • 13 May
    • Environmental Product Poised to Save Companies Millions and Months for New Projects (Texas Environmental News)
      www.texasenvironmentalnews.com
    • U.S. Energy Chief: Texas Should Develop Clean Power Plan (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • 40,000+ People Urge EPA To Take Chemical Disasters Seriously, Require Safer Alternatives To Save Lives (PR Newswire)
      www.prnewswire.com
    • Disabled Texans in three state homes have been drinking water with Flint-level amounts of lead (Brittney Martin – The Dallas Morning News)
      http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com
    • EPA’s Final Methane Rules Would Hit Oil and Gas Industry Hardest (Jim Malewitz – Governing)
      www.governing.com
    • U.S. Energy Chief: Texas Should Develop Clean Power Plan (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • U.S. lawmakers put pressure on EPA over handling of glyphosate review (P.J. Huffstutter – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
    • U.S. sets rules to cut methane emissions from oil and gas wells (Valerie Volcovici – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
  • 12 May
    • North Eldridge Parkway through Addicks Reservoir reopened to traffic (Harris County Flood Control District)
      www.hcfcd.org
    • Shell outlines ‘below 2C’ scenario for ‘accelerated net-zero emissions’ (Simon Evans – Texas Climate News)
      http://texasclimatenews.org
    • Obama’s Methane Crackdown Rankles Texas Oil and Gas Industry (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 11 May
  • 10 May
    • Benzene Leaks From Pipelines Have Been Quietly Adding to the Ship Channel Toxic Mix (Dianna Wray – Houston Press)
      www.houstonpress.com
    • Westheimer Parkway and Clay Road open to traffic after weeks underwater (Harris County Flood Control District)
      www.hcfcd.org
    • Montgomery and Fort Bend counties now eligible for FEMA aid (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
    • Make Your Morning Commute Fun; Join Energy Corridor Bike to Work Day on May 19! (Energy Corridor)
      http://energycorridor.org
    • Houston Technology Center Seeks to Incubate Entrepreneurialism in The Energy Corridor (Energy Corridor)
      http://energycorridor.org
    • Federal Waters off Texas Closed to Shrimping on May 15, 2016 (NOAA Fisheries)
      www.galvestonlab.sefsc.noaa.gov
    • Ancient lava bubbles reveal conditions on primordial Earth (Will Dunham – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
    • Benzene Leaks From Pipelines Have Been Quietly Adding to the Ship Channel Toxic Mix (Dianna Wray – Houston Press)
      www.houstonpress.com
    • 33 Cases of Zika Virus Confirmed in Texas (Big Country)
      www.bigcountryhomepage.com
    • Going Down Under: The Cistern at Buffalo Bayou (Roshan Moayed – Houston Press)
      www.houstonpress.com
    • Breathing easier: Rain-washed air quality improves dramatically (Paul Huttner – Updraft)
      http://blogs.mprnews.org
    • Kingwood B.O.P.A. Recycling Event Rescheduled (Guidry News)
      www.guidrynews.com
  • 9 May
    • Water pollution still an issue after chemical fire (Lauren Tostenson – KHOU News)
      www.khou.com
    • Genetic Potential of Oil-Eating Bacteria from the BP Oil Spill Decoded (UT News)
      http://news.utexas.edu
    • Wind-driven wildfire in Jeff Davis County contained by Texas A&M Forest Service (Texas A&M Forest Service)
      http://texasforestservice.tamu.edu
    • CO2 ‘Pollution’ Is Greening the Planet (Larry Bell – News Max)
      www.newsmax.com
    • Clean Power Plan isn’t only EPA rule endangering electric reliability (Josiah Neeley – R Street)
      www.rstreet.org
    • Texas cooperative sees rate redesign aiding compliance (Emily Holden and Rod Kuckro – E&E Publishing, LLC)
      www.eenews.net
  • 7 May
  • 6 May
    • How seafloor sensors can save fisheries (Fred Krupp – Green Biz)
      www.greenbiz.com
    • In Big Bend, Trans-Pecos Pipeline Clears Last Hurdle (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Neighbors Weary About Chemicals In Air, Water After Spring Branch Warehouse Fire (Florian Martin – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Investigators: 500 Gallons Of Pesticides Burned In Massive Industrial Fire (Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
  • 5 May
    • Hermann Park Conservancy crowd comes prepared but rain holds off at outdoor gala (Shelby Hodge – Culture Map Houston)
      http://houston.culturemap.com
    • US climate chief’s goal: ‘Set in motion’ climate work over next five years (Devin Henry – The Hill)
      http://thehill.com
  • 4 May
    • Survey: Texans Support a Statewide “Clean Energy” Plan (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 3 May
    • Two fourth-graders start plastic bag petition in Houston ( Samantha Ptashkin – Click2Houston)
      www.click2houston.com
  • 2 May
    • What can we expect next in the long history of lead poisoning in the US? (Science Daily)
      www.sciencedaily.com
  • 30 April
    • Even the world’s largest food company knows the American diet is an environmental catastrophe (Nathan Halverson – Grist)
      http://grist.org
  • 29 April
    • Theodore Roosevelt IV at Earth Day Texas: ‘We’ve Got to Be More Sustainable’ (Pierce Nahigyan – Planet Experts)
      www.planetexperts.com
  • 26 April
  • 25 April
  • 23 April
    • Why We Must Make Green Energy a Public Good – In These Times (Green Sight)
      www.greensight.com
  • 18 April