A new bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers wants to highlight the state’s fragile water infrastructure
So far there has been an average of six boil-water notices a day across Texas in 2023. Full Story
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![Volunteers unload water during a water distribution and free flu vaccination event at the Holman Street Baptist Church in Houston on Nov. 28, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
EPA moves away from Permian Basin air pollution crackdown
The oil industry pushed hard against the proposal to issue an ozone nonattainment designation, which would have required that companies reduce oilfield emissions. Full Story
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![A natural gas flare operates less than 200 yards away from a family home on March 14, 2022 in Midland.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Farmers face a higher risk of suicide. The Texas Agriculture Department wants $500,000 a year to change that.
The department’s helpline is less than a year old. But advocates hope state lawmakers fully fund it as farmers and ranchers continue to face hard economic times and isolation. Full Story
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![Grant Heinrich, Operations Manager for Pro Agri Spraying, stands outside of his Slaton business Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
A Texas project hopes to turn water into fuel for cars, planes, ships and trains — using wind
New subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act are powering the race to build the country’s first large-scale producer of “green hydrogen.” Full Story
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![The Hale Wind Farm located outside of Petersburg and south of Plainview.]()
Credit: Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribune -
Midland is the latest Texas city to issue a boil-water notice
Officials said the water levels at the local reservoir were too low to meet safety standards. Full Story
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![A water tower at the Midland International Air & Space Port on Jan. 28, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Texas ag agency says climate change threatens state’s food supply
A new Texas Department of Agriculture report also points to other factors that are making it harder for Texans to access and afford food, including wages falling behind rising costs of living. Full Story
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![Produce at District Market Green Grocer in Houston on May 18, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
After underestimating power demand, Texas electric grid operator gets federal permission to exceed air quality limits
The U.S. Department of Energy granted permission for power plants to release more pollution than is normally allowed — if grid conditions worsen. Full Story
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![Details of electrical transformers at the Austin Energy/Sand Hill Energy Center
in Del Valle on March 24, 2020.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas shelters prepare for twin emergencies: arctic cold and an increase in migrants
Cities and nonprofits are using a variety of strategies to keep unhoused people warm. But some organizations warn they’re already at capacity as El Paso sends migrants across the state. Full Story
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![The Dallas skyline during the wintery weather on Feb. 3, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texans should prepare for “life-threatening” wind chills, but officials remain confident in power grid
Gov. Greg Abbott and other leaders say Texans should protect their homes and vehicles as large portions of the state will experience dangerously cold temperatures. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference regarding Texas’ emergency response to an unprecedented winter storm gripping Texas on Feb. 13, 2021.]()
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Watch: Panhandle cotton farmers, rural economies struggle under “exceptional” drought conditions
“A year like this, where everything is disaster, is just, I’d say, devastating,” cotton farmer Steven Walker said. Full Story
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Army Corps of Engineers withdraws plan to dredge Texas Gulf Coast Superfund site for oil tanker traffic
The reversal follows a challenge by Earthjustice and Gulf Coast community groups alleging flaws in the corps’ environmental review of Matagorda and Lavaca bays. Full Story
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![A tanker ship sails into The Port of Corpus Christi in 2018.]()
Credit: Eddie Seal for The Texas Tribune -
Federal report identifies cause of 2019 Port Neches chemical plant explosion
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board found that TPC Group LLC failed to identify problem areas where dangerous chemicals might cause explosions and didn’t implement a safety recommendation that could have prevented the blast. Full Story
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![A process tower flies through air after exploding at the TPC Group Petrochemical Plant in Port Neches. An earlier massive explosion sparked a blaze at the plant on Nov. 27, 2019.]()
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Texas power grid expected to withstand extreme cold this week
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas expects sufficient electricity generation as much of the state will plunge into frigid temperatures. Full Story
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![A power substation in Northwest Austin during a winter storm on Feb. 3, 2022.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
To ease looming West Texas water shortage, oil companies have begun recycling fracking wastewater
Oil and gas companies are increasingly reusing “produced water” as West Texas aquifers are being depleted and the practice of injecting wastewater into disposal wells triggers more earthquakes. Full Story
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![Fracking's water demand requires the construction of ponds like these, which store millions of gallons of fresh water. Aug. 21, 2013.]()
Credit: Tamir Kalifa for The Texas Tribune -
GOP lawmakers accuse investment firms of breaking a law that prohibits divesting from oil and gas
At a senate committee hearing in Marshall, Texas Republican lawmakers accused investment firms of pulling back on fossil fuels, running afoul of a 2021 law that prohibits the state from contracting with or investing in companies that “boycott” oil, natural gas and coal companies. Full Story
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![Pumpjacks at sunrise in the Permian Basin in West Texas.]()
Credit: Jerod Foster for The Texas Tribune -
A boil-water notice in Houston made national news. In rural Texas, it’s a way of life.
Rural communities face compounding reasons they can’t improve their water infrastructure, including inflation and a lack of human resources. Full Story
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![David Wilshusen, 69, stands outside his home in Houston County, Texas on on Wednesday, November 30, 2022. (Emil Lippe for The Texas Tribune)]()
Credit: Emil Lippe for The Texas Tribune -
Justice Department tried to hide report warning that private border wall in Texas could collapse
The report confirms a ProPublica and Texas Tribune investigation that found the privately built fencing could collapse during major flooding. The federal government resisted making the findings public for more than a year. Full Story
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![Erosion can be seen along the privately funded border wall that was built less than a year ago on June 19, 2020 in Mission, Texas.
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune/ProPublica]()
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Houston officials say state made the call on water boil notice
For more than 24 hours, nearly everyone in the nation’s fourth-most-populous city had been asked to boil water after a power outage at a water treatment plant Sunday. Full Story
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![Isaiah Chirip helps push a pallet of bottled water during a water distribution and free flu vaccination event at the Holman Street Baptist Church in Houston on nov. 28, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Houstonians say the city fumbled sounding the alarm on boil water notice
Many residents in the nation’s fourth-most-populous city heard that they couldn’t drink tap water from friends or neighbors, not from City Hall. Full Story
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![Eboni Davis and her boyfriend Jesse Holloway load water into their car outside an H-E-B grocery store in Houston on Nov. 28, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Houston boil water notice forces schools to shut down
Millions of Houston residents are expected to be under a boil water notice until Tuesday after a power outage at a water treatment plant. At least four school districts canceled Monday classes. Full Story
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![A notice that customers are limited to two cases of water at a Houston HEB on Nov. 28, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune