Ignoring Threat to Local Air Quality, TCEQ Approves Permit for Texas LNG

Austin, TX -- Today, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) approved a permit for air pollution from the Texas LNG fracked gas export facility. Texas LNG is one of three fracked gas export terminals proposed for the Rio Grande Valley, the cumulative impacts of which could be devastating for local communities 

The Rio Grande Valley already has some of the worst air quality in the country, putting communities at risk of negative health impacts and amplifying the risk to vulnerable communities from COVID-19. 

All three facilities are currently facing legal challenges in federal court. In March, the Sierra Club, joined by local community groups and the City of Port Isabel, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit challenging the flawed approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) of the Annova LNG and Texas LNG projects, challenging FERC’s flawed socioeconomic and environmental justice analyses of the facilities. 

Texas LNG is still awaiting permits from the US Army Corps of Engineers and Fish and Wildlife Service. Facing delays, the company has pushed back its final investment decision on the project to 2021.

In response, Sierra Club campaign representative Rebekah Hinojosa released the following statement: 

"State and federal regulators have consistently refused to listen to concerns from our communities about the threat that these dirty, dangerous fracked gas facilities would pose to already vulnerable populations by pumping even more pollution into the air we breathe. Texas LNG still faces legal challenges at the federal level, and we are determined to ensure that it is never built."