Big news for Bayou City Waterkeeper and local waterways! The City of Houston voted to adopt a $2 billion consent decree with the EPA and State of Texas. This begins a 15-year process of addressing wastewater pollution and failing infrastructure across the entire city.
Bayou City Waterkeeper, represented by our legal intern Reagan Lutter, joined a packed, energetic house today at the Houston-Galveston Area Council, where H-GAC’s Transportation Policy Council considered whether to authorize $100 million in funding for the I45 expansion project. The project recently was deemed “one of the nation’s biggest highway boondoggles” in a report prepared […]
Tomorrow, Bayou City Waterkeeper will urge the City to adopt a Community Engagement Plan as part of its wastewater consent decree with the EPA, on which the City Council will vote Wednesday, July 23rd. A copy of the Community Engagement Plan and related letter are reproduced below and available for download.
Guest post by Rosa Acheson, Bayou City Waterkeeper’s legal intern. With competing rulemakings over the course of two administrations, and lawsuits nationwide challenging aspects of each rule, the fate of the Clean Water Rule and its protections for Texas’ coastal prairie wetlands remain in flux. Meanwhile, the Harris County Commissioners’ Court is planning to spend […]
Bayou City Waterkeeper and local partners urge Mayor Turner and City Council to give constituents the opportunity to review and comment on the proposed $2B consent decree before voting.
Tell City Council that you deserve an opportunity to review and provide comment on the $2 billion Consent Decree before it goes to a Council vote. By giving the public the opportunity to participate, it will ensure that the City of Houston commits to upgrade its wastewater treatment facilities in a manner that protects the public interest and will best serve Houstonians for generations to come.
On July 8, 2019, Mayor Turner announced the release of the City of Houston’s proposed consent decree with the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Justice, and the State of Texas. We urge the City Council to provide transparency and opportunities for meaningful public review in City of Houston consent decree approval process.
The City of South Houston wants to remove the limits on how much mercury is allowed in its treated wastewater that enters Berry Creek. Join Bayou City Waterkeeper and Caring for Pasadena Communities in opposing this potential health risk and sign this petition.
Today, the Harris County Commissioners’ Court evaluated the implications of expediting flood control projects that will be implemented using the $2.5 billion bond approved by voters last November. Drawing on language within the bond requiring equity in the flood control process, members urged the Court not to lose sight of historic inequities in flood control locally and adopt a formal framework to infuse the process governing flood bond projects with equity.
On May 28, 2019, Galveston-based federal district judge George C. Hanks, Jr. remanded the 2015 Obama-era “waters of the United States” rule, more commonly known as the “Clean Water Rule,” to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for additional administrative proceedings.