How Houston's Polluters Bribe Their Way Out Of Cleanups - Chronicle

[hatrack]

The roof on Jesús Hernandez's house lacks the black streaks that tarnish so many other homes in his southeast Houston neighborhood, he says, because the local refinery replaced it. Nearly 10 years ago, when the trees in Marie Rose's yard died after pollution was unexpectedly released from a nearby industrial plant, her husband received $600 from Lyondell-Citgo to buy more foliage. That day, Martha Avila stepped out of her house and was hit by the same chemical rain as Rose's plants. It gave her a rash and diarrhea. Eventually, the refinery paid her $800 as part of a settlement to cover her medical bills. Other people on her block say they sold toys left on the lawn to the company.

Such gestures are minor compared with the millions of dollars that oil and chemical companies contribute to local school districts and municipalities each year. But the free car washes, donated computers, elementary school essay contests and Easter egg hunts companies host in fence-line communities like this one are more visible to local residents and go a long way toward explaining why the men and women who live there rarely complain.

EDIT

That era of silence could be coming to an end, however. This summer, 24 residents from the Manchester and Allendale areas near the Ship Channel on Houston's East End agreed to participate in the Houston Chronicle's independent effort to measure the air toxics that seep from plants and refineries into surrounding communities. Hernandez and Avila volunteered. Torres did, too, even though her parents, who recently sold some property to the company, begged her not to. For these residents, the carefully crafted image of the company as good neighbor clashes with the odors and grime its facilities spill into the neighborhood. "They think all the Mexicans here don't know what's going on," said Rosemary Duran, another volunteer. "I can read between the lines."

"If ... we have an unfortunate event that impacts the community, we are going to act in a responsible way," said Jerry Barnhill, the health, safety and environmental manager for the Lyondell-Citgo refinery in Houston. "If somebody incurred costs and they were able to demonstrate that it was a result of the event, we would make a direct reimbursement back to them." But the companies' environmental records contrast with their neighborly deeds. In 2003, Valero's Manchester refinery and Lyondell-Citgo's plant off 225 ranked among the top dozen in the Houston area for accidental releases of air contaminants."

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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2990219

[ChemEng]

1. I live and work in these plants and

these articles were so much bullshit.

Ask me anything...