Promise of Clean Water Act Unfulfilled

Environment Texas
Industry dumped 13 million pounds
of toxic chemicals into Texas
waterways in 2007. "While nearly
half of the lakes and rivers in
Texas are considered too polluted
for safe fishing or swimming,
polluters continue to use our
waterways as dumping grounds
for their toxic chemicals," said
Luke Metzer, director of
Environment Texas.
Thanks to the previous admin-
istrations 8 years of creating
loopholes, put thousands of
wetlands, headwaters, and
streams beyond the reach of the
Clean Water Act. http://www.environmenttexas.org/newsletters/winter10?id4=ES

White Stallion Clean & Pretty?

Randy Bird is trying to build another
coal fired power plant in Texas,
outside Houston in Matgorda Bay.
Investing in dirty energy is another
step backwards for Texas.
Get on board with Sierra Club
call and protest.http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=155701.0&dlv_id=134581

Breaking News!

Hooray! Thanks to the EPA, our new
Regional Director, Dr. Al Armendariz,
and Downwinders at Risk...

Who made Texas the battlefield in
an effort to bring SCR from Europe
to America.
In a stunning and unexpected move,
the EPA and Lafarge cement
announced an historic agreement
today that called for the building
and operation of the first Selective
Catalytic Reduction (SCR)
system on an American cement
plant.
Read how TCEQ was embarrassed
by ignoning their studies. Also,
see how Downwinders efforts will
help us all in Texas to breathe
easier.http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=001vUitVcnL-0f-VLWn5RBWJltNRnx8C5KTXTnP2xi5vf0LIf9TLunM-ddfR63wNBqPbLmnK5Y5pkcnnFEX5Lsh54VjlGG4c-ieF_yMX5EcX1vzknnzI-4s6A%3D%3D

Drillers May Be Injecting Benzene

Dallas Morning News....Randy Lee Loftis
Environmental Writer
"Companies are basically doing an end
run around the law" said Dusty
Horwitt, senior counsel for the Envi-
ronmental Working Group, a Wash-
ington, D.C.-based research and ad-
vocacy organization."Congress should
never have given the oil & gas
industry a free pass."
Ramona Nye spokeswoman for the
Texas Railroad Commission, said
in an e-mail that the agency does not
ask drilling companies operating
in Texas what is in the fluids they inject
into the ground.That is because
state rules for well construction
have prevented even a single docu-
mented case of ground water con-
tamination from the injected fluids,
she said. "Therefore,the commission
does not see a need to monitor
fracturing fluids," Nye said.
More: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-barnett_20met.ART0.State.Edition1.4ba4a7d.html

My Expierence with the Texas Railroad Commission

Mayor Tillman gives his impression of
testifying before the Railroad
Commission of Texas in Austin.
TCEQ puts disclaimers on the
bottom of all slides showing
recent lab results. Showing their
usual concern for Texas citizens.
Here's hoping the 'Sunset Review'
will shine on them. More...
 http://baddish.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-experience-with-texas-railroad.html

Pickens Funding Natural Gas Ads

Dallas Morning News...Elizabeth Souder and Dave Michaels

Dallas energy investor T. Boone
Pickens is launching an ad campagin
to press Congress to pass legislation
that would help pay to convert U.S.
trucks to natural gas.
Having spent $62 million already
because he believes relying on
Petroleum from the Middle East is
dangerous. He declined to say how
much more the ads will cost.

Don't we wish he ad spent some of
those millions on the electric grid?
The grid is needed to  make use of
the wind farms. Which obviously,
are less toxic to the environment.

Full story herehttp://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/industries/energy/stories/DN-pickens_14bus.ART.State.Edition1.3cfa290.html

Vote for Charles E. Morgan

Good news for Citizens for

Environmental Clean-Up!!!

Our director is campaigning for

State Representative District 8.

  "Part of the duties of a pro-

fessional engineer is to protect

the health and safety of the

public. I am very concerned about

the health of our citizens in Dis-

trict 8, especially our children.

I believe I can have a signficant

impact by initiating state laws

that protect our health."

Let's all of us in Anderson,

Freestone, Limestone, and

Navarro Counties (District 8)

spread the word, and be sup-

portive of his campaign. We need

someone to help us with our

environmental needs!

Freestone County Times will

give us a web link update soon.

Haitian Earthquake

   God Bless Haiti. To donate: RedCross.org
So far, 28 aftershocks.
Vicims and familes you are in our
thoughts and prayers.

Texas, a state of denial on pollution rules

Dallas Morning News..... Editorial

The EPA announced tougher ozone
limits this week. The move long
anticipated as evidence mounted to
illustrate health risks.
Texas a state with notoriously
dirty air, needs changes to protect
people that live here.
Gov. Rick Perry denied the need
for tougher ozone limits, somehow
conflating smog rules with carbon
dioxide regulations. That only
confuses the issue. he says "Texas
was unfairly targeted by the EPA."
The rules apply nationwide, so
Texans must work really hard to
clean - up our air. Let's take our
heads out of the sand, and protect
our land. Full story below:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-EPA_09edi.State.Edition1.19210c3.html

DELAY~DELAY~DELAY

Air Monitors       Freestone County Times   Mary Mcdonald
Here we go again, with news from
all over Texas about pollution making
people sick, EPA 's findings on lax
permitting, and deep pockets of
industry, all working against us poor
souls, just trying to breathe.
Once again, our County Commissioners
choose to stall.
With an air monitor already in the
budget, are they hoping to stall
this one out, like the one approved
for 2007?
Opponents would say what about the
tax revenue? What about the jobs?
I would say what about our lives?
What about the childrens' lives?
Think about how many jobs could
be created, cleaning up the mess
already made to our air, water, and
soil.
http://www.freestonecountytimes.com/