The latest environment news from The Texas Tribune.
Attorney General Ken Paxton applauded the new rules, saying they would make Texans safer. The Obama-era regulation was meant to improve chemical safety practices and prevent tragedies like the deadly 2013 fertilizer plant explosion in the tiny Central Texas town of West. Full Story
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A coalition of residents and indigenous and environmental groups has rallied against a trio of proposed terminals to export liquefied natural gas from the Port of Brownsville. Thursday's vote puts the terminals closer to final approval. Full Story
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Most Texas voters say climate change is happening, but there are significant partisan differences, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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Nearly 900 homes sustained major damage or were destroyed and uninsured in six affected counties, according to a preliminary assessment. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
Both deaths were related to flooding from the storm. More than a thousand others needed to be rescued and evacuated. Full Story
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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority planned to drain the lakes, which it considers a public safety threat, on Monday. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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