Towards the end of January an independent panel of judges, the Office of Public Interest Counsel, and the EPA all recommended that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality deny the proposed permit for the Las Brisas petroleum-coke burning plant based on its multiple deficiencies and clear violations of the Clean Air Act. The Perry-appointed commissioners approved it anyways. According to its permit, Las Brisas will emit 220 pounds of mercury, 100 pounds of lead, 8,096 pounds of sulfur dioxide, and 1,767 tons of particulate matter every year.
Communities in Corpus Christi are left with few options: the ultimate authority of the EPA, and the leadership of their elected officials.
“This is my hometown, and I love it,” Rebecca Lyons, a graduating honors student at TAMU Corpus Christi, told Matt Tresaugue of the Houston Chronicle back in January, “But I don’t want to raise a family here because of the health risks…There has to be a better way.”
After hundreds of letters, petitions, and phone calls made to the EPA, Corpus Christi residents are taking their fight to the online world. Join us!
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKmMBm0qFKM]
Take Action Online!
Copy and paste this status and video to the EPA’s Facebook pages!
Corpus Christi doesn’t want Las Brisas. Stop the air permit now! http://bit.ly/merA7n
EPA’s Facebook Page: http://on.fb.me/X4FYe
Administrator Lisa Jackson’s Facebook Page: http://on.fb.me/130rQ6
Are you on Twitter? Tweet with us!
@epaGOV @lisapjackson I want clean air! Stop the Las Brisas air permit in Corpus Christi, TX!
http://bit.ly/merA7n
Ready to go the distance?
Ask your elected officials if they support responsible growth, or Las Brisas. Copy and paste this to their Facebook pages:
I’m a voting constituent, and I don’t want Las Brisas. Do you?
http://bit.ly/merA7n
US House Rep Blake Farenthold: http://on.fb.me/f2XnkP
State Rep Connie Scott: http://on.fb.me/jj0qJv
State Rep Todd Hunter: http://on.fb.me/mpSG5d
Mayor Joe Adame: http://on.fb.me/km137a
State Senator Judith Zaffirini: http://on.fb.me/lbxOW5
State Senator Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa does not have a Facebook page.
Send his office an email instead!
Carson, California was recently on the path to becoming home to a pet-coke power plant, situated conveniently next door to the BP Carson refinery. The project, though touted as the “cleanest and greenest of energy plants possible,” would really have been an environmental and possibly a public safety nightmare. Luckily the project was scrapped, largely due to the activities of the Wilmington Coalition for a Safe Environment and other grassroots organizers.
