Texas approves massive petrochemical expansion despite cancer risks and climate concerns

Texas is moving full speed ahead with a petrochemical building boom that could dramatically worsen air quality and public health in communities already struggling with some of the nation’s highest pollution levels. Despite being responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than Saudi Arabia, the state has approved 41 new petrochemical projects over the next five years—collectively authorized to release pollutants equivalent to 41 natural gas power plants.

The expansion is staggering in scope: these projects will be permitted to release 38.6 million pounds of the EPA’s most dangerous pollutants, including cancer-causing chemicals like benzene and ethylene oxide. More than half of the 57 petrochemical facilities built since 2013 are located in majority-minority neighborhoods, continuing a troubling pattern of environmental racism. Areas like Jefferson County and Harris County, which includes Houston, face particular threats as new plants cluster in already heavily polluted regions.

The human cost is becoming increasingly clear. Jefferson County currently violates EPA standards for particulate matter and received an “F” grade for ozone pollution from the American Lung Association. In the historic Charlton-Pollard neighborhood of Beaumont—a community founded by freed slaves—residents face cancer risks in the 99th percentile nationwide while watching their neighborhood literally disappear as the Port of Beaumont buys up properties for industrial expansion.

Perhaps most frustrating for communities is that Texas regulators rubber-stamp these projects: the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has denied less than 0.5 percent of air permit applications over the past 25 years, even as health experts warn that adding dozens more pollution sources to already contaminated areas represents a public health crisis in the making.