EPA: Despite emissions drop, Texas still a big polluter EPA: Texas outpaces rest of U.S. in cutting toxics

Despite emissions drop, Texas is still a big polluter, data show

• See breakdown of Texas pollution

• • •

Texas industries released fewer toxic chemicals into the environment in 2007 than the year before, according to newly released federal data.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s latest statistics show that the state’s emissions dropped 7 percent, outpacing the reductions of the nation as a whole.

Still, Texas remained one of the biggest polluters among states, behind Alaska, Ohio and Indiana in the release of chemicals that cause cancer, neurological damage or other ills.

Harris County continued to lead Texas — and ranked No. 11 among counties nationwide — with the release of 39 million pounds of toxic chemicals. The county, home to 321 chemical plants, factories and refineries, reported a 4 percent reduction from 2006 to 2007.

Brazoria County ranked second in the state with 31 million pounds, and Jefferson County was third with 21 million pounds.

The EPA’s annual Toxic Release Inventory tracks the emissions of 650 chemicals at 22,000 facilities nationwide. Although the inventory has become a widely used resource since it started in 1988, it has been criticized for relying on industry-reported estimates.

The inventory also doesn’t include toxic chemicals in the exhausts from vehicles, construction equipment or airplanes, which can account for a big share of Houston’s famously dirty air.

Nonetheless, state, local and industry experts said the latest data show that efforts to reduce harmful emissions are working.

Harris County, for example, saw a significant drop in emissions of 1,3 butadiene, a cancer-causing chemical used in the production of rubber and nylon.

Officials said one reason for the drop in 1,3 butadiene emissions is Texas Petrochemicals’ 2005 agreement with the city to reduce emissions of the chemical by half. Since then, the East End plant has cut emissions from 136,433 pounds a year to 60,712 pounds in 2007, a 55 percent drop, EPA data show.

The city is seeking similar reductions of benzene, a petroleum byproduct known to cause cancer. The latest data showed more emissions of the chemical in Harris County in 2007 than the year before. State regulators said that’s because a Deer Park company that handles hazardous waste incorrectly reported the amount of benzene it injected into underground wells.

The company, Texas Molecular, has submitted a revised number, lowering its emissions from 2.3 million pounds to 36,487 pounds, said Terry Clawson, a spokesman for the regulatory Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The mistake raises doubts about the accuracy of industry’s estimates and reinforces the need for more measurements, said Matthew Tejada, executive director of the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention.

“This imperfect tool is just that — imperfect,” Tejada said of the federal inventory. “We won’t really make our next step with the measuring and reporting of toxic emissions until we start doing the first step — measuring — before attempting the second step — reporting.”

matthew.tresaugue@chron.com