Mapping Houston's biggest polluters
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Air Alliance Houston's latest report, "Houston's Dirty Dozen," unveils the region's 12 worst industrial air polluters.
Why it matters: The facilities are major contributors to chemical releases and climate-warming pollution in Harris County, leading to health issues ranging from respiratory irritation to cancer risks, per the report, released Tuesday.
Threat level: The majority of these polluters, identified using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality data, are located near low-income communities of color in east Harris County.
The big picture: Most of the petrochemical facilities are in Pasadena, Deer Park, Channel View and Baytown, per Air Alliance's analysis of TRI data, with ethylene, propylene and ammonia being the top three emitted compounds.
Zoom in: Of the more than 300 facilities in the region analyzed for direct emissions from 2018-2022, Exxon Mobil's Baytown, LyondellBasell's Channelview, and Chevron Phillips' Baytown plant had the highest emissions and combined accounted for 60% of the chemical releases in Harris County, per Air Alliance.
Plus: The report, using the EPA's Enforcement and Compliance History Online data, found that Altivia Oxide Chemicals had the most high-priority federal violations and penalties paid.
- A report earlier this year from the Environmental Integrity Project revealed that, despite facing pollution violations, petrochemical plants in the Gulf Coast have received billions in tax breaks since 2013.
What they're saying: "The air pollution that harms health and causes climate change is not an acceptable by-product of the fossil fuel industry in our community," Jennifer Hadayia, executive director at Air Alliance Houston, said in a statement.
- "There are known, specific company culprits that have been allowed to pollute beyond healthy limits for far too long, while Houstonians bear the harm. This new report proves, once and for all, that these facilities need greater accountability and oversight."
The other side: While Houston remains a hot spot for fine particle air pollution, it has improved since 2012.
- "Our Baytown complex has three world-scale industrial plants: a refinery, an olefins plant and a chemical plant. Each operates under its own air and water permits and complies with applicable regulations. Air Alliance Houston's report combines numbers from these facilities, and the data isn't normalized for size or scale," ExxonMobil said in a statement.
What we're watching: Inyang Uwak, the research and policy director at Air Alliance Houston, said this report should serve as a "call to industry to clean up their act."
- Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee adds that the companies need to be held accountable. Earlier this year, Menefee submitted a petition calling on TCEQ to update its air quality standards to be in line with federal standards.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from ExxonMobil.