This week, Texas residents, community leaders and environmental groups took to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in Austin to stand for the communities of the Rio Grande Valley and Corpus Christi who are targets for liquified natural gas (LNG) and petrochemical companies aiming to construct massive facilities along our coast. While these companies promise economic opportunity for the community, members weigh the inevitable detrimental long- and short-term environmental impact these LNG and petrochemical facilities will have on human health, wildlife, the environment and the land they live on.
During yesterday’s TCEQ meeting, the commission granted the City of Port Isabel a contested case hearing for the Texas LNG's application for a permit to pollute the Rio Grande Valley's air. Based on a request from the City of Port Isabel, backed by area residents, fishermen, environmentalists and Native Americans, the Texas LNG's proposed export terminal’s air permit application is now in the hands of the State of Texas: Office of Administration Hearings as TCEQ commissioners ordered that the contested case hearing take place within the next 150 days in Austin to address health and safety issues and impacts on plants and wildlife.
Sierra Club, community members and partner organizations have been on the front lines and will continue to stand against the proposed LNG facilities.
[May 3, 2019] Rio Grande Valley residents and Sierra Club protest in Houston at the entrance NextDecade's offices, the company behind the proposed Rio Grande LNG and Rio Bravo Pipeline.
[Oct. 2016] Sierra Club Clean Air Director, Dr. Neil Carman with RGV residents protest Texas LNG outside of the TCEQ Public Meeting which was held inside the Historic Brownsville Museum.
To join us, follow the case, and to stay up-to-date on the latest Sierra Club actions as we continue to battle LNG operations in the Rio Grande Valley:
While the order halts the construction process for the LNG company in the Valley, the air permit for the proposed petrochem plant outside of Corpus Christi passed with no changes. Leaders and community members from several local and national environmental organizations gathered together to oppose the air pollution permit that, if it becomes final, will authorize construction of a large new plastics manufacturing petrochemical plant near Corpus Christi. ExxonMobil and its partner, the Saudi Arabian petrochemical company SABIC have proposed building the largest ethane cracker plant on the planet one mile from Gregory Portland High School and Middle School. Sierra Club and Texas Campaign for the Environment, on behalf of their members who live near the site, opposed the permit on concerns regarding public health and environmental sustainability.
If built, the Exxon-SABIC plant will produce a variety of natural gas-derived chemicals including polyethylene, the most basic plastic -- all of it intended for international markets. The permit allows the release of toxic and smog-forming air pollutants, including the carcinogens benzene and formaldehyde, acid gases, smog-forming nitrogen oxides and volatile compounds, and greenhouse gases.
[June 12, 2019] Portland resident Dewey McGee, whose home is about a half mile from the proposed facility, shared his concern regarding exposure to the large amounts of air contaminants that would be emitted from the facility. He’s especially concerned about the health of his grandchildren who will also be attending school in the area.
To join us and stay up-to-date on the Lone Star Sierra Club’s actions as we continue to battle polluters and stand in solidarity with community residents: