Texas environmental agency misses industrial pollution spikes during and after storms
Author: Erin Douglas
The Texas agency tasked with enforcing clean air rules often does not monitor industrial pollution during and immediately after severe weather events - often the height of emissions from refineries and chemical plants - leaving a hole in the state's knowledge of air quality. Industrial facilities, like oil refineries and chemical plants along the Texas Gulf Coast, typically shut down in advance of hurricanes and other storms to keep workers safe and avoid spills. But the process can cause pollution above what's permitted or healthy. Emergency shutdowns and other accidents, equipment breakdowns and power failures during the storms tend to create even worse levels of pollution as plants burn off waste gases, which include health pollutants and climate-warming greenhouse gases such as nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds.