Environment

Most Texas voters say climate change is happening, but there are significant partisan differences, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

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Every year West Texas experiences more and more small earthquakes. The study by the University of Texas at Austin documented more than 7,000 starting in 2009.

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On this week’s TribCast, Emily talks to Kiah, Edgar, Emma and Cassi about a major Tribune investigation into coal clean-ups in Texas, state leaders’ role in a North Texas child custody case, a mass exodus from the Legislative Budget Board and the latest on the House speaker.

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Alcoa has put its shuttered Sandow Mine site on the market for $250 million, advertising it as a country paradise. Testing has found that groundwater under a landfill in the middle of the property is contaminated with toxic heavy metals.

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An investigation by The Texas Tribune and Grist shows that regulators in the Lone Star State have given a hand up to struggling coal companies as they face millions of dollars in mandated land restoration costs.

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Sulphur Springs leaders say they want Luminant — Texas’ largest electricity generator — to leave in place a 120-foot-tall mound of excavated dirt at the site of a shuttered coal mine so they can build an amphitheater. But the soil contains potentially dangerous materials, according to state regulators.

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The Sierra Blanca facility, which houses ICE detainees, shuts down its water supply at 11 p.m. daily to allow its on-site water tanks to replenish overnight.

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Decades ago, lawmakers passed a law that was meant to fully fund Texas Parks and Wildlife, but the money never seemed to make it to the parks. Now they're asking voters to create a constitutional mandate that parks get more money.

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A judge had ruled that the company illegally dumped billions of plastic pellets and other pollutants into Lavaca Bay and other waterways.

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Nearly 900 homes sustained major damage or were destroyed and uninsured in six affected counties, according to a preliminary assessment.

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For people affected by Imelda to get FEMA aid, there have to be at least 800 flooded homes that weren't insured — and it could be weeks before Texans know if that threshold is met.

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While Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency for Tropical Storm Imelda, it does not qualify individuals for financial assistance. That will have to come from FEMA.

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Both deaths were related to flooding from the storm. More than a thousand others needed to be rescued and evacuated.

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The storm quickly became the fifth-wettest rainfall event in the continental United States. Gov. Greg Abbott issued an emergency declaration for several counties Thursday.

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The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority and property owners in Guadalupe and Gonzales Counties agreed to not drain four lakes held up by 90-year-old dams, on the condition that recreational use of the lakes is banned.

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The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority planned to drain the lakes, which it considers a public safety threat, on Monday.

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The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality denied a permit request by a company seeking to open a hazardous waste processing facility near the Colorado River, citing concerns of contamination to both surface and ground water in the region.

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Two floodgate failures on 90-year-old Guadalupe River Valley dams — and the plan to lower the remaining four — are highlighting Texas' underfunded, aging flood infrastructure.

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The plan carries a $10 trillion price tag and calls on the country to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045.

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The law, written by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, requires homeowners to disclose if their properties lie in a flood-prone area or have flooded before. It's an effort to expand notification after many homes unexpectedly flooded during Hurricane Harvey.

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