Texas attorney general wins $60 million judgment in pollution lawsuit

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After six years of legal battles, the Texas Attorney General’s office announced Friday that it has won a judgment against a company accused of illegally dumping industrial waste into Skull Creek in Colorado County.

Attorney General Ken Paxton said his office secured a $60 million settlement against businessman David Polston and his companies, Inland Environmental and Remediation, Inland Recycling, and Boundary Ventures.

“I will not allow rogue corporations to pollute Texas’s land and rivers by illegally dumping dangerous chemicals that kill our wildlife and hurt the environment,” Paxton said in a statement. “Companies that do business in Texas have a duty to take care of the land and follow the law. If you mess with Texas, you will face the consequences.”

In 2019, Skull Creek, which flows into the Colorado River, turned black due to severe chemical contamination that killed wildlife and produced a strong, unpleasant smell.

Colorado County Judge Ty Prause told The Texas Tribune in April 2019 that residents had to rely on private wells for drinking water because they weren’t sure what was causing the pollution or how it might affect their health.

“It’s hard to imagine that the state agencies in charge of protecting our environment and natural resources in Texas would not act quicker to tell people that live on this creek whether there’s a threat to their health or their livestock,” Prause said at the time.

After receiving complaints from locals, the attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit against Inland Environmental and Remediation, a company that owned nearby oil and gas waste recycling facilities.

Polston initially denied responsibility, claiming in a letter to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that the creek turned black because of algae or decomposing animal waste.

However, in May of last year, Polston pleaded guilty to intentional or knowing unauthorized discharge, a third degree felony, admitting that his companies had knowingly dumped waste into the creek. The company received a $75,000 fine, which was divided between Colorado County and the TCEQ.

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