The People of "Refinery Row" vs. The Worst Smokestack Yet

If an environmental protection agency fast-tracks a permit for a petroleum coke-burning plant that violates the Clean Air Act, and people pretend not to hear it, does it make a sound?

The Las Brisas Energy Center (Get it? It's just a nice breeze...of particulate matter) was proposed about two years ago for construction in Corpus Christi, Texas.  If built, it'll produce 1,320 megawatts a year by burning petroleum coke, a product of refining oil that's regulated like coal but is actually a whole lot dirtier. The plant would emit 220 pounds of mercury a year and, by Las Brisas's own estimate, increase pollution in Nueces County by 82 percent.

But it's okay, y'all. They told us they're bringing jobs. Eighty of them. Wow, guys, 80 whole jobs!

Las Brisas would be built on Refinery Row in downtown Corpus Christi, just a mile or two away from neighborhoods and a school. Naturally, the people who support and advocate for the plant, including Mayor Joe Adame, most of the Corpus Christi City Council, the Corpus Christi Port administrators, Ms. Kathleen Smith (Managing Partner of the Las Brisas Energy Center), and Mr. John Riley (attorney for Las Brisas), in a show of good faith, will be moving in next door to the plant. All of them look forward to brisk morning walks in the shadow of 500-foot smokestacks.

After all, the city council's Beautify Corpus Christi Association has decided that these smokestacks will make a lovely addition to the Corpus Christi skyline.

Kidding! No one involved in the decision-making process will be living anywhere near this plant. To see who will be living near the plant, check out this handy demographic map (the blue dots are African Americans, the orange dots are Latinos, the red dots are white people).

Here is how a people-killing pet-coke plant becomes reality: Your friendly non-neighborhood energy company wants to build a plant. The project must be approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. It needs an air permit to start construction and a water permit to start operating. If anybody objects, there's a contested case hearing, in which the petitioners and the protestants (no religious affiliation) duke it out in front of administrative law judges. The judges then make a non-binding recommendation to commissioners appointed by Governor Rick Perry. The commissioners then make their decision.

It's recently been suggested that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the second largest environmental agency in the world, after U.S. EPA, is run by Homer Simpson. I would agree, with the addendum that it is appointed by Mr. Burns, an easy stand in Governor Perry, who has declared a well-known statewide war on real environmental protections.

On June 28th, the Las Brisas air permit failed to meet the burden of proof, and the judges recommended its denial. On June 30th, the commission's death panel....er, commissioners...told Las Brisas to redo its air permit paperwork. And this time, the commission decided to help out in putting that permit together.  Just a couple weeks ago, Commissioner Bryan Shaw committed to expediting the approval of the Las Brisas air permit like it's a done deal.

If the permit isn't approved by January 2nd, the EPA's new greenhouse gas emission rules kick in, making the permit inconveniently more expensive. That's why the commissioners are forced the administrative law judges to work through Thanksgiving to speed the permit along. Unfortunately, no dice. On December 1st, the judges once again recommended denial of the air permit.

Now, let's do a little Glenn Beck chalkboard action...we’ve heard rumors that the guy funding the coal plant, Corbin Robertson of Quintana Energy Partners LP, is one of Governor Perry's major donors. Governor Perry appoints the commissioners to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The commissioners are hustling the permit along, and it seems that the non-binding recommendation of denial by the administrative law judges is just that—not binding.

So nobody is celebrating the judges' decision. The community members fighting the plant, including the Clean Economy Coalition, LULAC Council Number 1, NAACP local director Terry Mills, the Surfrider Foundation, and students from the local university are heading to the trenches as Las Brisas tries to beat the clock. This holiday season, nobody is expecting the gift of justice. They're going to have to fight for it.

Check out the Texas Green Report, the Clean Economy Coalition, and @defendcorpus and @Texassierraclub to stay tuned. And help them by signing this petition to Governor Rick Perry and to the deputy administrator of U.S. EPA's Region 6 office demanding they recommend TCEQ deny the permit.

Photo credit: Horia Varlan via Flickr

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