Monitoring industry- 2 bills in Legislature address pollution fears
2 bills in Legislature address pollution fears
By NANCY MARTINEZ Caller-Times
March 17, 2005
Some of those who live at Buena Vista Mobile Home Park on Up River Roadalong refinery row say their view stinks. Maritza Alvarez, her husband and three young children moved to the trailer park 10 days ago. The stench is inescapable, she says.
And though local anti-pollution activists greeted her as she was unpacking with air monitors and claims of disease-causing toxins in the air, she says she's not worried.
State officials who are charged with controlling air quality say she's right not to be concerned; ozone levels in Corpus Christi meet state standards.
Only one toxin at one monitor doesn't meet the state standard for annual average concentration, said Terry Clawson, spokesman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Since 1998, that monitor on Huisache Street has had the highest benzene level in the state. In 2003, the level was 2.2 parts per billion. The TCEQ's annual average concentration level is no more than 1 part per billion. The levels set for neighborhoods are lower than those set for workplaces because of the presence of children and older adults.
According to a public health statement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, levels of 700 to 3,000 parts per million can lead to drowsiness, dizziness, headaches and unconsciousness.
Long-term benzene exposure can harm the bone marrow, cause anemia and leukemia. Benzene is a known human carcinogen.
Local activists who have taken testing air quality into their own hands say they've got proof of high levels of toxins in the air. Local refineries dispute those findings. And bills in the Legislature aim to change the air monitoring process and increase fines against those who violate it.
A bill by State Rep. Joe Moreno, D-Houston,seeks to amend the Texas Clean Air Act to require refineries to conduct daily fence-line monitoring of emissions and designate a state-approved independent consultant to certify compliance.
Some at Buena Vista Mobile Home Park say the odor makes them sick. Laura Baze and her husband Michael Stinnett say they hate living there and would move if they could afford it.
Mavis Branch, 52, said since she moved into her mobile home six years ago she has suffered from respiratory illnesses she never had when she lived in Houston. Branch, whose home is subsidized by the government, said her severe bronchitis and asthma have sent her to the emergency room and back home with a breathing treatment machine.
Mavis Branch, 52, said that since she moved into her mobile home six years ago she has suffered from respiratory illnesses.
In August, Branch said her doctor, Ralph De La Rosa inquired about her home environment. When she told him, he wrote a letter to the Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 program director:
"Please assist Mavis Branch to obtain new housing. Multiple medical problems and concerned about environmental toxic exposures from neighboring refinery."
De La Rosa declined to comment.
Last month, Suzie Canales' group, Citizens for Environmental Justice along with Hilton Kelley of Port Arthur, monitored the air at the mobile home park.
They said thatwithin minutes they smelled "overpowering and offensive odors." They say they found levels of 1,3-butadiene, a specific kind of toxin, between some 25 and 42 parts per billion. The state's long-term annual average that triggers investigations is 5 parts per billion.
Canales and others who did air monitoring at the trailer park demanded that TCEQ officials come to Corpus Christi to do their own testing. They did. But Clawson said they didn't even find a trace of butadiene.
In a letter to Canales, TCEQ officials said they monitor air quality in the Corpus Christi area in accordance with standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
From 1993 to 2003, the latest year for which data is available, monitors at five locations did not detect levels of 1,3-butadiene in excess of state standards, the letter said.
Clawson said since Sept. 1, 2004, only two air quality complaints from Corpus Christi have been received. Only one of the two complaints addressed odors. The complaint was reported on Jan. 8 and investigated the same day but no odors were confirmed during the investigation, according to TCEQ.
Valero spokesman Greg Matulasaid he disputes Canales' methodology in testing including unreliable equipment and misrepresentation of data.
Matula says an annual average concentration should only be used to evaluate monitoring information from stations that collect data during an entire year. This long-term monitoring takes into account factors such as variations in weather, he added in a prepared statement.
"The comparison being made by Ms. Canales' group is similar to measuring the temperature over a one-hour period in August and then assuming this is the average temperature for the entire year," Matula said.
For their air monitoring, Canales' group used the CEREZ UV Hound, a machine that uses ultraviolet rays to detect chemical contaminants in the air and allows the tester to see the results almost instantly.
Denny Larson, director of the Refinery Reform Campaign in California, came to Corpus Christi to help with the testing. He said he doubts the wind conditions were the same when the state did its testing.
Larson and Canales have another demand of the TCEQ. They want constant air monitoring, closer to refineries.
"They have spent a lot of money in air quality in Corpus, that is laudable, but what we're really trying to do with this is get TCEQ to get them to install real-time monitoring 24/7, 365," Larson said. "We want better monitoring that is along the fence-line of each company. The way it is right now, they've got the monitors near some of the facilities, but not all of them."
There are 13 TCEQ monitors of different types in Corpus Christi, two of which have been deactivated for various reasons. Clawson said where the agency puts the monitors depends on a variety of elements. The agency tries to place the monitors near people and emissions, he said, adding that other practical matters such as finding a secure, public place with electricity to put the monitors are factors.
On March 8, when Canales testified before the Senate on Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa's Senate Bill 699 that seeks to increase penalties for polluters, she told them about her findings at the mobile park.
She also told them that Branch was "more proof that people are being adversely impacted from the toxic soup of hazardous chemicals that are leaving the fence-line every day."
Under the bill, the TCEQ would determine how much money the violator saved by not taking the actions needed to achieve compliance and base the penalty on that.
In many cases, according to Hinojosa's office, the penalties are considerably lower than costs saved by a company operating in violation of environmental laws.
"The majority of businesses are good corporate citizens who follow the rules and care about their communities," said Hinojosa, D-McAllen. "Unfortunately, there is an occasional bad apple that pollutes and enjoys an economic edge over the rest."
Clawson said his agency is prohibited from discussing pending legislation, but said its mission is to "make the air better."
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