E. Coli in Texas Creeks and Streams 8/30/2010

On June 30, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) weakened water quality standards to allow for unsafe levels of E. coli in many Texas creeks and streams. Previously, all of Texas’ waterways were held to the standard that they be clean enough to swim in. Regardless of the recreational use of the waterway, freshwater bodies were allowed to have no more than 126 E. coli per 100 milliliters. Under the new guidelines developed by TCEQ, acceptable pollution levels in freshwater bodies are based on the likelihood that individuals will ingest E. coli contaminated water. The guidelines draw a distinction between waterways in which individuals come in “primary contact” with water through swimming and are therefore likely to ingest water and waterways in which individuals come in “secondary contact” with the water through activities like canoeing, kayaking, fishing, and wading by adults.

Save Our Springs sues over water treatment plant 7/29/2010

SOS, along with Environment Texas, contends that the city needs to finish more environmental studies first.

Drought helped clean Texas beaches 7/29/2010

But Texas saw a 27 percent drop in closings and public advisories, falling from 318 in 2008. Experts believe the plunge was a result of the two-year drought that limited storm-water runoff. Karen Byrom, an Environment Texas field organizer, said updated sewage treatment systems are part of what's needed.

Report: Texas Beaches Getting Cleaner 7/29/2010

Kara Byrom, an organizer with Environment Texas, acknowledged that it would be hard to address the many unknown sources that cause problems on Texas beaches, or the rain that spurs stormwater runoff. But she said the state and the federal Environmental Protection Agency could do better at controlling chemicals and other pollutants that wind up in the runoff.

Environment TexasPraises House Lifting BP Liability Limit and Investing in Our Treasured Lands and Waters, Pans Hypocrisy of Lifting Deep Water Moratorium 7/30/2010

Today, the House of Representatives passed legislation responding to the ongoing BP oil spill. The CLEAR Act (H.R.3534) will require oil companies to pay for environmental damage caused by spills, reform oil drilling oversight, end some loopholes in environmental rules for on-shore oil and gas drilling, and provide permanent funding for land and water conservation. Before it passed, however, the House added an amendment offered by Representatives Melancon and Childers that would allow deep water drilling to resume before the end of the administration’s six-month moratorium.

Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches 7/28/2010

In 2009, beach closings and advisories hit their sixth-highest level in the 20 years the Natural Resources Defense Council(NRDC) has been tracking them. The continuing high number of closing and advisory days, combined with a relatively constant level of bacterial contamination at ocean, bay, and Great Lakes beaches, suggests that our nation’s beaches require a more concerted effort to identify and control the sources of water pollution that put swimmers at risk.

LCRA Notice of Intent 7/15/2010

Notice of Intent to Sue for Clean Air Act Violations at the Sam Seymour Fayette Power Project Located near La Grange, Fayette County, Texas.