Waters in Henderson County were among those listed in a report by
an advocacy called Environment Texas as being unsafe for swimming of
fishing.
The report was based on information from the
Environmental Protection agency, that the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality termed as dated.
The review states that
more than half of the state's waterways are unfit for fishing or
swimming 35 years after the original Clean Water Act became law. The
ranks the state as the fourth-worst violator of Clean Water Act
pollution permit limits in 2005, behind Ohio, Pennsylvania and New
York.
Using the Freedom of Information Act, Environment Texas
obtained data on facilities’ compliance with the Clean Water Act
between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005.
Troublespots
listed are located in all sections of Henderson County, involving Cedar
Creek Lake, Lake Palestine, the Trinity River, the Neches River and
Cedar Creek Lake.
Environment Texas also called on TCEQ to
finally strengthen its penalty policy to better deter polluters from
violating their permits. According to a December 2003 report by the
State Auditor, the enforcement program at TCEQ "does not consistently
ensure violators are held accountable" and that polluters "often have
economic benefits that exceed their penalties, which could reduce their
incentive to comply."
At a meeting on Sept. 7, 2007, the
Commissioners of the TCEQ instructed staff to develop a new rule to
address this "economic benefit of non-compliance." Unfortunately, the
report claims, the new rule would still allow polluters to keep the
vast majority of illegally obtained profits.
“As the Clean
Water Act turns 35, polluters continue to foul our rivers, lakes and
streams,” said Environment Texas Citizen Outreach Director Brad Hicks.
“With so many facilities dumping so much pollution, no one should be
surprised that more than half of Texas waterways are unsafe for
swimming and fishing. But we should be outraged.”
Facilities in
Texas and across the country continue to dump more pollution into our
waterways than is allowed by law,” said Hicks. Hicks noted that the
findings are likely just the tip of the polluted iceberg, since the
data that Environment Texas analyzed includes only “major” facilities
and does not include pollution discharged into waters by the thousands
of minor facilities across the country.
