The Latest Breaking News from TCEQ

So-called "excess" emissions have ballooned in Texas, thanks to an almost total lack of enforcement, report Grist and Science Friday.

Over the last two decades, state regulators have allowed companies to release more than a billion pounds of excess pollution.

Recent “upsets” like tripped compressors, pressure loss and freezing weather resulted in thousands of pounds of unauthorized pollution but no fines or citations from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Before the fire at the Shell refinery, "upsets" like tripped compressors, pressure loss and more resulted in thousands of pounds of pollution.

In Deer Park near Houston, memories of the massive ITC fire are still fresh. Residents told state environmental regulators they should reject the company’s permit renewal, but officials said the fire won’t be part of the decision.

Watchdogs call for creation of an environmental justice office, better monitoring of Clean Air Act violations.

Critics call for removal of state agency’s economic mandate.

The Texas Tribune analyzed previously unreported air monitoring data and records from the 2019 ITC chemical disaster near Houston and found that high benzene levels lingered in the air for two weeks after public health measures were lifted. Experts say more shelter-in-place advisories should have been issued.

Regulators repeatedly documented — but did little to address — problems at a Houston-area tank farm. Then on March 17, 2019, a fire blew through a corner of the facility, releasing toxic chemicals into nearby communities for weeks.