Texas Regulators Approve Pollution Permit for Brownsville Oil Refinery Opposed by Shrimpers and Fishers

Brownsville, Texas – Despite opposition from local shrimpers and fisherman and community groups, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on Oct. 6 approved  an air pollution permit that would allow construction of the Jupiter refinery in the Port of Brownsville, Texas. The commission, however, imposed two important pollution control requirements that will mitigate the dangerous air pollution from the facility if it is eventually built.   

In 2017, Jupiter submitted an application for an air pollution permit, which is a prerequisite to building the refinery. Shrimpers and Fishermen of the Rio Grande Valley, a local community group in the Brownsville area, organized in opposition to the permit which would authorize major new air pollution in an area already seeing degraded air quality from new fossil fuel infrastructure. Members of the group work in the Brownsville shrimp fork, a historical shrimping and fishing dock located less than a mile from the proposed Jupiter site. Other community groups in the Brownsville area, including the Carrizo Comecrudo tribe and Save RGV, oppose the Jupiter refinery and the LNG export terminals proposed to be built nearby along the Brownsville Ship Channel. 

“We’re disappointed that the state’s environmental commissioners approved this air pollution permit,” said Lela  Burnell, whose family has been shrimping in the area for 70 years. “There is no such thing as a clean refinery. But, if the Jupiter facility is built, at least this ruling will force Jupiter to meet stricter pollution control levels than what the company originally proposed to the TCEQ.”

According to the Port of Brownsville, the port is home to 180 shrimp boats, over 30 percent of the entire Texas shrimp fleet, which supports 1,400 jobs in Cameron County. The proposed new refinery would be located in the port, adjacent to the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge.

The permit was the subject of a legal battle resulting in a May 2021 ruling by two Texas administrative law judges. The Commission, which is authorized to make the final permit decision, today approved the permit with two modifications that will serve to provide small measures of protection from two key air pollutants including air toxins. First, Jupiter will be required to lower its emissions of smog-forming nitrogen oxides; and second, Jupiter will be required to enhance its pollution monitoring for volatile organic compounds to quickly spot and fix leaks.   

“Jupiter oil refinery and pipeline is a major threat to the local economy, the environment, and the livelihoods of working class people in Brownsville. By approving this permit to pollute the air we breathe, the TCEQ is totally ignoring the demands of local residents and the fishers and shrimpers who are trying to preserve the environment and protect their jobs,” said Emma Guevara, Sierra Club’s Brownsville-based organizer. “In the Rio Grande Valley, the environment is a major part of our way of life, from recreation to how we make a living. An oil spill would be especially devastating for shrimpers and fishers and the neighboring Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge, which depend on healthy waters. ”

Earlier this year, Jupiter Brownsville LLC. went under investigation by a trustee of the Dallas Bankruptcy court. The previous owner of the oil project was sued into bankruptcy over unpaid debits and was then taken up by their new parent company ARX Energy. Texas has made it clear that this project is unnecessary destruction for communities and the environment by sending over two thousand public comments urging the TCEQ to deny the permit. 

The Shrimpers are represented by attorneys from Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, Earthjustice, and the Environmental Integrity Project.