Environment & Pollution
“Any winds coming from the east blow toxic chemical pollutants towards downtown [Houston] and many neighborhoods where people work and live,” said the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention in a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency in 1999.
Houston is the “Dirtiest City” in the United States, according to an annual report released by the EPA in 2001. Between 1996 and 1999, The American Lung Association gave Houston an “F” rating during its State of the Air Report for air quality when compared with other regions in the United States.
The EPA defines smog as “pollution made up of a combination of primary components: carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, lead, volatile organic compounds and particulate matter.”
The Houston-Galveston Metropolitan Statistical Area is composed of eight counties, Harris, Galveston, Brazoria, Fort Bend, Waller, Montgomery, Liberty and Chambers. The EPA monitors whether ozone levels exceed standards in these eight counties.
According to the EPA’s report on the Houston area in 2000, the city was in violation of the pollution standard 43 times. In 2001, the city was in violation 30 times with two months to the end of the year.
The law categorizes pollution into three categories depending upon the number of particles per billion: 125-164 ppb is unhealthy for sensitive groups, 165-204 ppb is unhealthy and 205-404 ppb is very unhealthy.
The cities of Pasadena, La Porte, Deer Park, Channelview and Baytown are home to 36 petrochemical plants and oil refineries. The five cities make up what is referred to as southeast Houston -- the area with the highest ozone violations, according to the EPA. This year southeast Houston holds the highest number of days of pollution violations for any one county, 14.
In 2000, southeast Houston experienced two pollution episodes of the highest concern: very unhealthy. They were the only two very unhealthy violations that year. Petrochemical plants, oil refineries, pipelines and power plants line the Texas Gulf Coast spanning north into Houston, east toward Beaumont and west toward Corpus Christi. According to the Texas Water Quality Board, Texas is the number one state in the nation for chemical production.
A study of petroleum and petrochemical industries in Texas by Rice University reported that of the 39 oil refineries along the Texas coast, 12 are located around Galveston Bay. Of the 74 gas processing plants, 22 are located on Galveston Bay, and of the 38 pipelines originating from state and continental shelf waters along Texas, 16 make landfills in counties around Galveston Bay.
Dumping pollutants into the air has a human side effect, but the employment opportunities offered by the oil industry (in the oil pipeline, refining and processing business) make even victims reluctant to complain. According to the EPA and The American Lung Association, 44.2 million pounds of toxic pollutants were released into the air of Houston in 1998.
James Chadwick has been an employee of Lubrizol Corporation, a petrochemical plant for 30 years and a resident of Deer Park his entire life.
“Chemicals aren’t the best thing to work around, but these plants are the only jobs available [in Deer Park], and I can’t afford to be picky even if there are health concerns,” said Chadwick.
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