Texas Becomes the Largest Emitter of Toxic Substances in the United States [Report]

Texas has become the largest emitter of toxic substances in the United States, according to a new report.

An analysis which started in 2009 suggests that the Lone Star State is now on the top list when it comes to releasing hazardous material into different bodies of water like streams, rivers, and lakes.

Specifically, the report has placed Texas above the Great Lake states for industrial discharges into streams.

Largest Emitter of Toxic Substances

The new report by Environment America, a Denver-based non-profit organization, shows Texas has replaced the state of Indiana from the said title since the group started their analysis of nationwide water pollution over a decade ago in 2009, when Texas only ranks fourth at that time, according to Inside Climate News, an independent and non-profit news organization.

The findings are based on the reported premise that Texas is an easy place to set up shop for industrial activities and projects with a large amount of liquid waste with no good place to put it. A separate yet related analysis from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tells us that the state's waterways are open for business to emit or sent large volumes of excess chemicals and industrial discharge downstream and into the sea.

The Environment America report is also based on data released by industrial facilities and logged with the EPA. The data shows 16.7 million pounds of toxic substances were emitted into Texas water back in 2020, an increase from 13.2 million in 2007.

Texas has a loose regulatory environment where it is very accessible to permit new polluting facilities and very challenging to get fined for violations, according to Luke Metzger, the director of Environment Texas, an affiliate of Environment America.

Toxic Texas

The Texas Observer, in line with the Inside Climate News article, showed that the notion of a toxic Texas comes from the procedural processes taking place between concerned facilities and local authorities.

For instance, companies file permit applications to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), which processes dozens of applications each week. However, the reports indicate that Texas does not provide the public an easy way to know the specific industrial polluters being put into nearby waterways.

It is only through the EPA's online Toxic Release Inventory where citizens can input searches based on locally permitted polluters, where the data is based on self-reporting.

Water Pollution

In April 2022, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) said that rivers, seas, and lakes are drowning not only with chemicals but also waste, plastic, and other pollutants. Widespread water pollution reportedly impacts the environment and even our health, estimating that unsafe water kills more people each year than war and all other kinds of violence combined.

The NRDC says that less than 1% of the planet's freshwater is accessible to humans. Without concrete action plan, these existing challenges could worsen by 2050, when the global demand of freshwater is expected to increase than it is now.