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If you think ITC deserves more scrutiny, not less, from @TCEQ after their "negligence" led to days of toxic air pollution, shelter-in-place orders and forever chemicals in the water, reference permit 95754 and tell them so.
https://www14.tceq.texas.gov/epic/eComment/ https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Advocates-fight-an-ITC-permit-request-with-the-15888261.php
https://www14.tceq.texas.gov/epic/eComment/ https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Advocates-fight-an-ITC-permit-request-with-the-15888261.php
Here's the story. Why should the public have any confidence in ITC? In 2019, after the fires, a safety expert told @Perla_Trevizo that they "failed to adhere to minimum safety standards." https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Report-ITC-did-not-have-emergency-shutoff-valve-14584762.php
The @chemsafetyboard found the Deer Park facility lacked an emergency shutoff valve, which most gas stations have, and alarms to let workers know. The fires created 20 million gallons of waste, including "forever chemicals." https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Environmental-impacts-of-ITC-fire-to-be-presented-14806393.php
Now, TCEQ seems ready to allow the corporation that showed "negligence," as Harris County environmental attorney Rock Owens said, to pollute even more. @carepasadena's Patricia Gonzales says, "We don’t trust these refineries around here to be good stewards."
TCEQ's mission is to "protect our state's public health and natural resources consistent with sustainable economic development."
The disaster at ITC was none of that. The region lost an estimated $1 billion in economic activity because the Ship Channel was closed for a week. Can TCEQ tell Texans that ITC has changed?
