Air Alliance Houston Reports
New GHASP Report Details Broken Penalty System for Texas Chemical Industry
Contact: Matthew Tejada 713-528-3779 or 512-934-8661
Houston, TX (October 8) Far too many petrochemical facilities in Texas pay to pollute, according to a new report by the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention (GHASP). The report lists the top 10 worst air violators in the Houston-Galveston region with rankings based on penalties levied by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for 2007. Dow Chemical Company tops the list with ConocoPhillips and Lyondell-Houston rounding out the top three.
The report points out the inadequacies of the TCEQ’s penalty process, and details how the commission regularly fines industry at levels far below the possible, and all too often justified, amount.
Companies do not see this penalty system as a deterrent, and the TCEQ’s own review board reported in 2005 that “deterrence hinges on the ‘perception of detection.’ ” The TCEQ also said in the 2005 report that “many experts believe that punishment is of little value in deterring crime because the possibilities of being punished are too remote in the mind of the potential perpetrator.”
GHASP has long argued that the TCEQ lacks sufficient resources, personnel and money to truly do its job effectively, said Matthew Tejada, GHASP director. “Our inspectors need more support, more flexibility and more authority to adequately penalize the bad actors in this state, and we need to make sure the full cost of air pollution is borne by the polluter. Until that happens, the cost of air pollution will continue to be paid by the health of regular Texans.”
In 2007, 80 percent of violators in the Houston region were penalized for the same or similar violations as they were previously penalized, according to the report. A similar report released last week by the Environmental Integrity Project found that from 2004 to 2006, industry actually increased the amount of harmful toxic pollution they released into the air. GHASP believes the lack of progress in reducing our toxic emissions is directly related to a broken penalty system that allows industry to pay to pollute.
Some companies actually gain a competitive advantage by avoiding heavy fines and the cost of necessary expenses to keep emissions down.
“These violators gain an economic benefit over other companies that took the necessary measures to comply with state and federal air pollution laws,” said Tejada. “And to top it off they are basically being rewarded for it. It’s a backward system that needs to be fixed.”
For information call 713-528-3779 or 512-934-8661.
GHASP’s mission is to reduce air pollution in the Houston region to protect public health and environmental quality through research, education and advocacy.
