By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Mar. 18 -- Texas State Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) has introduced House Bill 2230 to require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to monitor air pollution at schools within 2 miles of refineries and chemical plants.
If toxic chemicals were released, the refineries and chemical plants would get fined. The fines—which would vary depending upon the volume of chemicals released—would go into a fund to support the air-monitoring program.
A study by the Austin-based Refinery Reform Campaign showed that more than 142,000 Texas children go to school near refineries and chemical plants "that every year are allowed to release millions of pounds of toxic chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, learning disabilities, and other serious health problems."
Denny Larson, coordinator of the Refinery Reform Campaign, said Texas has no comprehensive program for monitoring the air at these schools.
"Parents, teachers, and children have a right to know what they are breathing when at our schools in Texas industrial zones. It is no longer acceptable to assume that the air is safe based on guesswork and inadequate monitoring," Larson said.
