Study Reports Texas Barely Penalized for Air Pollution

Houston Skyline” by bjoern licensed under CC BY 2.0

Source: The Guardian

A new report from the Environmental Integrity Project and Environment Texas states that Texas was penalized on less than 3 percent of all cases of pollution it created.

Of over 24,000 “malfunction and maintenance events” that occurred in Texas, only 588 were penalized.

Last year, only 20 of more than 3,500 incidents of pollution in the state were penalized, the report stated.

“It’s no wonder Texas polluters are repeatedly and flagrantly breaking the law,” said Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas and a co-author of the report, in a statement, as reported by the Guardian.

In turn, thousands of tons of air pollution go unpunished and yet continue to contribute to a growing public health concern on air quality and air pollution.

Additionally, the report says that the largest contributors of pollution are falsely reporting less pollution in order to attain permit exemption under the law.

Read full story at: The Guardian

Environment, News
Environment, News