Environmental issues: Fort Bend County residents concerned about power plant in light of SCOTUS ruling

RICHMOND, Texas (KTRK) – Ted Tankard has lived a few miles from the WA Parish power plant in Richmond for more than 20 years. Its property is quite difficult to ignore. The same goes for everything that comes out of it.

“I’m not happy about it. I think it was a mistake. I understand why they did it legally, and now it’s up to Congress to pass a law, but in this environment it’s not going to happen. not anytime soon,” Ted Tankard said. “It’s a lot of particulates that come out of the plant. I know in the past they’ve tried to put in scrubbers and filters to try and remove that, but still. There’s a lot of pollutants that come out.”

This week, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA can no longer decide how to regulate coal-fired power plants and that task is now in the hands of Congress. The problem is, environmentalists say, waiting on both sides of the aisle to come together and agree on how to curb climate change could waste precious time that we or the planet don’t have.

“This is a crisis we are facing with climate change. We are seeing the impacts of this right now with our current heatwave. There is no indication that this will slow down unless we put in place strict rules and regulations are in place to stop carbon emissions at their source,” explained Jennifer Hadayia, Executive Director of Air Alliance Houston.

Air Alliance Houston, a nonprofit environmental group, says 200 deaths occur each year due to air pollution emitted from the Parish plant. They hope that since the EPA has been reduced somewhat, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will do the right thing and limit carbon emissions where necessary. Tankard too.

“I’m not about to move. I knew the factory was there when I came here, but I’d like to see them progress into the 21st century and do a better job of capping their particles.”

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